B.J. Smith - Dedication to the Greats Dubs & Reworks

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Since the moment Phil Cooper launched NuNorthern Soul in 2013, Benjamin J. Smith’s Dedications To The Greats series of Balearic-minded cover versions has been a recurring feature. To date, he’s delivered a quartet of original EPs, in the process offering up imaginative and inspiring interpretations of songs by of Mos Def, The Pharcyde, Prefab Sprout, Soul II Soul, Outkast and, most recently, Billy Swann. Now, a selection of those covers return in remixed form for the first time.

To begin, Rotation Sound System residents Wrekin’ Havoc – AKA UK Balearic and nu-disco veterans Rob J, Stuart Robinson and Rich Hall – turn their attention to Smith’s two Outkast covers. First up is the mighty ‘Hey Ya’, with the Staffordshire trio wrapping bittersweet synthesiser chords, echoing vocal samples and dubbed-out guitar motifs around a shuffling beatbox rhythm and a bubbly, acid-style bassline.

Their take on ‘Prototype’ follows, with the experienced threesome reaching for rubbery 80s electro beats, throbbing bass, jazzy and reverb-laden synth flourishes, wide-eyed pads and choice snippets of Smith’s vocals.

To round off the EP, Estonian Balearic dub maestro Roots Artefact – a NuNorthern Soul regular who earned plenty of plaudits for his recently released Rocking Boat EP – delivers two spaced-out, sun-soaked takes on ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, Smith’s staggering cover of Billy Swan’s take on a song first made famous by Elvis Presley.

Here renamed ‘Dub Earth’ in reference to Smith’s original suite of mixes, the Tallinn-based producer delivers a pair of radical reconstructions hand-picked by Cooper from an extended suite of dubbed-out takes. ‘Dub 6’ is a slow-build affair in which delay-laden guitars, pedal steel, hand percussion and guitar – the latter smothered in reverb – cluster around Smith’s original deep, weighty bassline, while ‘Dub 7’ ushers the track closer to sunset and sunrise territory via space echo-splashed solos, gentle acoustic guitars, lilting steel guitar and shuffling, head-nodding beats. Like Wrekin Havoc’s more dancefloor-focused interpretations earlier in the EP, Roots Artefact’s dubs are simply sublime.