(House / Soulful House) Sean McCabe - It's Time - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

Bristol-based producer Sean McCabe has had plenty of time to develop his own sound. Famously, he released his first tracks in 2003 at the tender age of 17 and has spent the last decade fine-tuning a trademark sound that is effortlessly soulful.
McCabe made his name in house, developing a long-running relationship with legendary US garage label King Street Sounds and remixing the likes of Dennis Ferrer, Evelyn Champagne King, Roy Ayers, Blaze, and Todd Terry. Since then, he’s amassed an impressive discography, delivering inspired reworks for labels like Z Records, Local Talk, Strictly Rhythm, Vega Records, Tribe, and Quantize.
A quick listen to any of his productions or one of his superb DJ sets will confirm this attractive, emotion-rich aesthetic. While rooted in house, his sound regularly takes on flavours of disco, boogie, Afro, deeper grooves, proto-house, ‘90s garage-house dubs and much more besides.
As a DJ, he has forged a reputation at the legendary Southport Weekender, where he has performed regularly. Anyone who can impress the notoriously knowledgeable Southport Weekender crowd must be doing something right.
Sean has travelled the world as a DJ, playing as far afield as Asia, South Africa, and the United States, as well as regular appearances across Europe and the UK. Refreshingly, he seems to have no particular aspirations to play in gargantuan clubs, and admits to preferring gigs in small, intimate venues, where he can make a connection with the crowd.
As a producer, McCabe is constantly learning and evolving, taking his sound in different directions. He admits to a love of vintage synthesizers – picked up from listening to classic New York boogie and ‘80s soul. With an album on the horizon and notable collaborations with the likes of Karizma, Nathan Adams, and Groove Assassin, his reputation continues to rise.

This lush and musical 17-track affair is Sean’s first big solo project and it has been in the works for almost three years. Written mostly in his Bristol studio, the LP features a wealth of international collaborations – Jennifer Wallace, Diane Charlemagne, Renn – and has been made primarily on real hardware such as the Fender Rhodes, SH-09, Juno 106, Poly 61, JV-1010, EMU Vintage Keys and the Moog Slim Phatty.
Sean who has been producing since his teens and includes fine labels like US garage staple King Street Sounds, Defected, Strictly Rhythm and Local Talk in his discography says of the album: “It was important for me to get it perfected to my original vision, and to keep that vision throughout was difficult. I’ve literally drawn inspiration from everything that’s influenced me as producer and writer over the years. I always wanted to create something that demonstrates all my tastes in soulful dance music which can be influenced by so many sub genres like Hip Hop, Disco, Jazz, Soul, Deep House, US garage etc. The NuYorican Soul album has always been a benchmark for me in terms of a perfectly constructed album and is something I never get tired of listening to.”
Those influences shine though in this fantastically musical and deeply considered album: it bares all the hallmarks of a proper full length that has been built from the ground up with fantastic arrangements, catchy vocals and real song structures.
The production values are sky high on this album, and though it might have been a long time in the making, it was worth it, because it categorically proves that now really is Sean McCabe’s time.