The Flirt EP – Faith Beat 11

Having spent the formative years of his career delivering dusty deep house cuts and hazy techno jams as Samuel, Sam Smith has really hit his stride since donning the Ploy alias at the tail end of the last decade. Here he takes time out from releasing on his own Deaf Test imprint and pal Batu’s Timedance outlet to deliver his first outing on Ryan Elliot’s Faith Beat imprint. He begins in full-throttle, UKG-influenced mode on ‘Flirt’ – all warped bass, skippy drums and glassy-eyed musical motifs – before opting for a more bumpin’, sample-heavy sound on the sweat-soaked joy of ‘Woman (Thank You)’. Over on the flip, Smith charges between the big room, Junior Vasquez-influenced tribal house heaviness of ‘Love Song’, the shoulder-swinging UKG flex of ‘I Need You’, and the immersive dark house psychedelia of ‘Prayer Hands’.