Close Counters -‘Soulacoasta’

Nothing beats those funky soul-filled rhythms of the 70’s, so it’s with great pleasure that Close Counters today deliver a 12-song instrumental mixtape called ‘Soulacoasta’.

Beat makers Finn Rees and Allan McConnell created this body of work whilst on their gap year travelling throughout Europe.

“Whilst visiting record stores in London, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam we uncovered some deep cuts of rare 70s groove records, which inspired us to experiment with a more disco-boogie tinged style.

“We created a series of beats built around some samples found on these records and experimented with thematically connecting the songs on the mixtape so that they flow from one to other,” Close Counters said.

It’s impossible to not feel the infections rhythms flow right through you, even transport you to a scene from the Netflix series ‘The Get Down’.

There is certainly an air of hip-hop coming through the mixtape, and for a couple of Generation Z kids, this shows their maturity in musical taste.

Exploring the nostalgia of 70s hip-hop opens up for genre blurring today. In fact, this mixtape is very reminiscent of Kaytranda and Harvey Sutherland.

“The main theme of ‘Soulacoasta’ revolves around a short sample of a full horn and string section from an Italian instrumental jazz album. This has been mixed with punchy hip-hop drums and bouncy synthesiser bass lines,” they said.

As an added bonus, a music video for the title-track has dropped, and it too falls in the old school world blending some vintage and new styles together to create a very fun and feel-good visual.

“The video is about a middle-aged man living an unbelievably joyful life. Throughout a day, his perception of reality is challenged and his delusions begin to reveal themselves,” they said.

On working with the duo, the video’s director Sanjiv Gopal said he knew exactly how to bring it to life.

“Having worked with Close Counters on a previous short film of mine, I was pretty eager to continue collaborating with the guys. When they first showed me ‘Soulacoasta’ it blew my mind, and I pretty much knew straight away what the next step in our work together would be,” Gopal said.

‘Soulacoasta’ is available now via SoundCloud and Bandcamp.