The Running Man - In The Lab / Recalibrate (incl. Nomad In The Dark and thebassmonkey Remixes) - Friday Island

Friday Island is a new progressive house label from former DJmag clubs editor and Ibiza editor Ben Edwards, aka thebassmonkey. The style is deep and dark, inspired by the magic of the early 2000s but with an eye firmly on pushing the future of the sound. Friday Island’s mission is to make music for dark sweaty rooms and those cosmic 3am dancefloor moments when you forget where you are. Nothing commercial. Nothing for Instagram poseurs. Just deep, hypnotic top-shelf prog for the heads.

The first release on Friday Island is by Cardiff-based DJ and producer The Running Man, a master of eclecticism who was also influenced by the prog breaks sound of the early 2000s. With releases on labels including Lowering The Tone (including a remix of breaks legend Meat Katie’s track ‘Nuclear Medicine’), Death Proof Recordings and his own imprint, Alternative Facts, The Running Man delivers two premium doses of future retro prog.

‘In The Lab’ is a deep, pad-laden slice of emotive progressive house that has shades of Sasha’s Airdrawndagger album—perfect for a warm up or those tripped out pre-dawn sessions—while ‘Recalibrate’ is a slick downtempo breaks affair with lush chords and sweeping pads that lands somewhere between the sofa and the dancefloor.

Nomad In The Dark—once tipped by Sasha as his breakthrough DJ/producer—remixes ‘In The Lab’, beefing it up with a heavy bassline and an epic synth line that is guaranteed to bring the house down, while thebassmonkey provides a dark and moody take on ‘Recalibrate’ that keeps the vibe chugging along