Kuttin Edge is not easy to place, which is partly the point. Based in Hamburg, the multi-disciplinary artist has been active across electronic music as a DJ, radio host and label founder for the best part of three decades, with the name Kuttin Edge standing for a concept rather than a specific sound or craft. His catalogue has always moved between eras and influences without apology, and the ‘Turn Style’ EP is a natural continuation of that approach.
Returning to play:musik for his sophomore release, the EP draws from several decades of reference points without feeling cluttered or overreaching. It has a lightness to it, spring-like, unhurried, with classic break structures and soulful textures running underneath. It sits somewhere in the territory of early liquid funk, though it doesn’t lean on that lineage too heavily.
‘Don’t You Know’ opens with old school house chords over drums that hit with real weight. There’s a romantic quality to it, something melancholic in the phrasing, but the energy reads clearly as peak-time, the kind of record that works in a basement at the right moment in a night.
‘Overthinking’ is the most contemporary-feeling cut on the EP. R&B and UK garage inform the movement here, with syncopated rhythms sitting alongside straight-time elements, arpeggiated synth work and a reese running low. The sweet vocal sits well in the mix. The sophistication is in the layering rather than the gesture.
The title track arrives with a looseness that recalls early Calibre and the lighter end of DJ Marky‘s catalogue, M1 organ, bluesy chord changes, and a real sense of enjoyment in the construction. It’s the kind of record that would work as well on a boat off Sardinia as it would in a room.
‘Catch Flight’ closes things out with Fantastic Mr Fox on vocal duties, his dancehall delivery sitting over something that sounds genuinely analogue, heavy reverb, tape echo, overdubbing that feels period-accurate rather than affected. A warm finish, and a notable addition to the p:m roster.
Today we premiere ‘Turn Style’ which you can check out below. The EP drops via DJ Flight’s play:musik label tomorrow, Friday 29th May. Grab it here!