Put two names on a bass house record and you usually get a tug of war. HILLS and ESSE skipped that part on Blow Your Mind. Both are chasing the same heavy, rubbery low end, and the track is better for the agreement.
The groove walks in on a plain house kick, easy enough that you underrate it, and then the bass lands with its teeth showing. I like that they let it stay ugly. It is a snarling, distorted bottom end that reads as menace at low volume and turns into a problem for the neighbors the second you push it. Save it for the walk back to the car after the set, ears still ringing, not ready to let the night go.
It comes out through IN / ROTATION, a label that lives on the heavier end of house, so the fit is obvious. This is the first HILLS and ESSE record to turn up in the archive, which means there is no older cut to hold it against yet.
As a first impression under the shared name, it is a confident one. No breakdown begging for a singalong, no melody doing the heavy lifting, just two producers betting the bass can carry the whole thing. Most of the time that is a gamble. Here it pays.
Listen on: YouTube · YouTube Music
