Krafted Chill is back, just in time for the hazy, lazy days just around the corner. The label has yet again assembled a magical mix of returnees and debutants for you to max and relax to, so pour yourself a cold one and prepare to drift away.
The Cuckoo Hill Orchestra kick off this summer's concoction with the blissed-out Air, a Francophillic nod to the eponymous epic of electronica. The Sunshine Collective continues with the laid-back funky vibe that is Soggy Bottom: perfect for baking in the sun to.
Hannah Elkins contributes once again with her stunning wistful vocals on Cloud Nine, while newbie Mond get us all real funky with their debut Starlight.
The first of Koolboy's contributions has an awesomely analogue feel, from the first crackles of needle settling into the groove, to the old skool scratching. The wicked Hey sounds like a long lost classic jam from the back of your record box.
Krafted's Simon Sinfield has remixed William Medagli's Lie, with epic results. Label friends Betoko and Sanny X drop in with the ambient before I Lose Control and the super-polished Butterfly respectively. Then it's back to vocally-led chilled out house with Last Eden's sublime In My Memory.
The pace picks up a tad (but not too much, obvs) with All Neon Like's soaring chugger Safe Behind Me, before Jay Forster's debut Alkaline brings things down again (in a good way), like the darkening sky of an ominous tropical storm on the horizon. But don't worry, the only storm brewing is Stormshaker's brooding My Analogue Heart.
Old friends Solar Wolf deliver the slick Orangoon to our chill session and MoxyClak drop in with the sparse and special Islands. The two tracks punctuated by The Sunshine Collective's clever second act, Nothing That She Needs.
Melonhead bring us up to date with a synthy sundowner to the album's closers, preceded by Koolboy's flavourful Tinned Tomatoes: a joy to get in the can for all concerned.
Chill 2020 saves the heavy hitters for the final act. Simon Sinfield gives us the melodic beauty Cradle of Life, which traverses from catchy hooked electronica to a cool jazzy piano close. Partner in crime Paul Sawyer ups the pace a little more with the progressive breaks of Textured Sky. Seb Mueller returns to the label with Escape From the Hill - his wonderful take on ambient drum'n'bass.
We then get onboard as Stormshaker turn a recording of a train journey into their second offering, before George Loggos's anthemically-tinged Sunrise brings the dawn of a new day.
You deserve a good summer: this is its soundtrack.
