Bleep

Yu Su expands her portfolio of mid-set slammers with ‘Watermelon Woman’. Her first single to be released through Ninja Tune sub-label Technicolour, this tune is another vibrant club take from the rising Chinese producer.

Anyone who’s checked in with Yu Su’s previous releases on labels like Second Circle and People’s Potential Unlimited will know that she has previously dealt in a melodious brand of deep house, one that frequently intersects with Balearic beat. ‘Watermelon Woman’ represents a slight departure from that sound, though some of the peppier elements remain.

The artists who spring to mind when listening to ‘Watermelon Woman’ are those who use new-wave dance grooves as a blank canvas upon which to paint all sorts of psychedelic effects - we’re thinking specifically of Golden Teacher, Whilst, Floating Points and ‘Go Bang!’-era Arthur Russell. Beginning with a dubby Balearified polyrhythm, ‘Watermelon Woman’ soon blossoms into a trippy club odyssey anchored by snapping drums and a thick bass motif. All sorts of sounds zip around in the mids and highs - chicken-scratch guitar drenched in delay, undulating flute and a meandering keyboard solo are just three of the instruments that take the lead at various points here. The spirit of invention extends across the rest of the Watermelon Woman EP, with an edit, Yu Su dub and an ‘Augur Sacrifice Dub’ from the Francis Inferno Orchestra fleshing out the release.

Full of fresh flavours and sweet sounds, Yu Su’s ‘Watermelon Woman’ has everything it needs to become one of the year’s big leftfield club hits.