Hifi Weekend

It's the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and I can't think of a better pick for Good Friday than Hifi Sean aka Sean Dickson. Fortunately, Sean has been incredibly busy and three months into 2024 and there's already been a stack of new stuff to delight in.

 

For all you disco lovers, The Redemption has it all: beats, bass, funky guitar, strings, choir and uplifting vocals from cousins DeVonde and Inaya Day.

Redemption was originally released in 2012 as DeVonde & Mangesto featuring Inaya Day, the latter co-writing the song with Ashleigh K. Ward. Here's the video.

 

The original version was club-friendly but Hifi Sean's skill is in taking a song to a place that both celebrates the past but can also tear up a contemporary club. I had the same reaction listening to this as I did his rework of Fire Island's (cover of) Shout To The Top a few years ago. Phenomenally phunky. I've included the full length version here but there's also a radio edit and dub version for your extended pleasure.

Not content with that, today sees the release and rejuvenation of another decade-old school classic, albeit this time one of Sean's own. Back in 2013, Sean and Severino Panzetta collaborated as Up Yours, putting out a trio of singles including London. It's a minimalist banger featuring the unmistakable vocals of FERAL is KINKY, for those of us of a certain vintage better known as Caron Geary aka MC Kinky whose unique raggamuffin toasting was everywhere in the early to mid 90s.

London is back (if you know what I mean), this time as Hifi Sean & Severino x FERAL is KINKY, with a fresh remix from Loffe Beats aka Christofer Loffe Eriksson. Bandcamp is offering a 3-track single with extended versions of the original and Loffe Beats remix, plus a dub. Juno Download has a 5-track EP, adding radio edits of the first two. All worth your while.

 

And is that's not enough, then Hifi Sean has also delivered another dancefloor monster with Clone, his contribution to volume 2 of No Tears In The Backroom on Polari Records, which exploded onto the scene at the end of January.

It's a mutant disco classic in the making, evoking The Human League produced by Martin Rushent and Zeus B. Held and Gina X, with an insistent beat, synth stabs, cowbells, I'm sure I even heard a kitchen sink in there somewhere. I'm at home, thirty odd miles away from the nearest club, yet I'm right there, feeling the sweat, the lights, the floor bouncing from the pulsating crowd. The cat's freaking out, I can tell you.

I'm unfamiliar with most of the artists on No Tears In The Backroom, but if you like Clone then you'll enjoy the album as a whole. 18 Euros for a 10-track digital compilation might be a bit of a stretch for many, Bandcamp Friday or not. If money's tight and you're open to MP3, WAV, FLAC, etc., then shop around and you'll find other digital retailers offering it within your budget.

 

Sadly, I had tickets to see Hifi Sean and David McAlmont at the Omeara in London last month and was unfortunately unable to go, though a couple of friends in the Big Smoke were able to make use of them and had a great time. I'm hoping (really hoping) Sean and David will get to tour the UK again real soon.

 

A week before the Omera gig the duo performed at Polari in Heaven, curated by Paul Burston (in the audience) and joined onstage by BSL interpreter Paul Michaels. The following clip starts with the tail end of a new song which includes the refrain, "my instinct for survival is to celebrate" and closes with The Skin I'm In. I mean, just wow.

However and wherever you're spending this weekend, wishing you all a good one. This blog will not be taking a break, so I hope to see you back here tomorrow!