Format : Vinyl 12” (180 gr., Limited Full Cover)

Track list:

A1 Closer (feat. AVA LAVÁ)
A2 Running from the Noise (feat. Life on Planets)
A3 Midnight Time (feat. AVA LAVÁ & Joey Hotwax)
B1 The Answer
B2 Gratitude

Release Info:

Makèz deliver the perfect follow up to their hit ‘Downstream’ with L.A. artist Life on Planets.

Dutch Duo Makèz had their big break when we released their first record on Heist in 2019, but it’s safe to say that ‘Downstream’ (on No Art records) has taken things to the next level for the talented Amsterdam duo. With support from pretty much the whole of Radio 1 (Pete Tong, Jaguar, Sarah Story, Danny Howard and more), and club DJ’s across the board ranging from ANOTR to Louie Vega, their fall 2023 release has really been a dream collab with vocalist and producer Life on Planets. It’s only fitting that the duo comes home to Heist with their follow up EP: ‘Midnight time’.

This new EP is a perfect blend of the intricate, soulful songs and punchy club tracks we’ve come to love from Makèz, On the A-side, we’ve got the jazz cut ‘Closer’ with AVA LAVÁ, who fans will remember from their Holy Sun EP on Heist. ‘Closer’ is equally laidback, full of textures and rich musical elements and a perfect mood-setter for the EP.

Next is ‘Running from the noise’ with Life on Planets on vocals. This is the follow up to Downstream that simply had to happen. It’s just as breezy and effortless as the duo’s biggest hit to date, but goes even deeper and minimalistic, taking you on a vibe that resembles the sound of that classic 100% Galcher mixtape/album from 2013. There’s definitely something in the air when these artists get together in the studio; The music is warm, fuzzy, and inviting, but most importantly, just about as sexy as can be.

‘Midnight time’ is another collaboration with AVA LAVÁ, and takes the EP into the club realm, while still keeping things jazzy. Lush Rhodes chords and a rolling live bass form the basis, while the young vocalist seems to freestyle her way through the track, much in a way an MC would do to get the crowd going. Everything about this track is infectious and you can just feel this go off in a club.

That club is exactly where we end up on the B-side, with ‘The Answer’ and ‘Gratitude’. Both have their own direction; ‘The Answer’ is a Chicago-inspired jam with acid licks, a powerful male vocal and clean 909 drums, where ‘Gratitude’ goes deeper with its haunting strings, clever vocal chops and loops and synths that somehow resemble static noise from an old radio. With their ‘Midnight Time’ EP, Makèz treat us to a gorgeous journey through their sonic world, a place we’re happy to hang out for a long, long time.

As always, enjoy the music and play it loud!

Lars & Maarten
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Format: Vinyl 2LP (Limited Full Cover)

Track list :

A1 The entrance
A2 Not so different (ft. LYMA)
A3 City of all
A4 Sonder
B1 Gonna getya
B2 Orbit
B3 Looking up (ft. Allysha Joy)
C1 Feel the same
C2 Roselane (ft. Fouk)
C3 Returning
D1 Humming harmonies (ft. LYMA)
D2 Bent with funk
D3 Encounters

Release Info:
Makèz have come a long way since they first sneaked into Amsterdam’s studio 80 at the age of 17 to hand over their demos to Dam Swindle. Those demos led to their debut EP ‘Different planets’ on Heist in 2019 which gained major support from artists like Seth Troxler and Chez Damier. Quickly after, they signed two records on New York based label Let’s Play House. Fast forward two years, and here we are: the release of their debut album “City of all”.

"City of all” shows an admirable level of sophistication and matureness and effortlessly bridges genres across its 13 tracks. You can feel the amount of thought that has been put into this record, with songs happily blending into each other as Makèz submerge themselves in their concept of accidental encounters, inclusiveness and what it means to live in a city like Amsterdam.

On “City of all”, Makèz bring together all the musical influences they’ve picked up in their life as music fans, clubbers and art students. The jazz-funk of opening track “The entrance” feels breezy, casual almost, like the freeform rhythms that are played in a jazz club during soundcheck. That energy also oozes from “Not so different”, which features the smooth vocals of LYMA. There’s a hint of the house-meets-R’n B vibe that made Anderson .Paak the star that he is now. The song is brilliantly funky and shows the songwriting and arrangement talent of Makèz, who cleverly use pop & soul cues to create one of the album’s highlights.

What follows is 4 cuts ranging from the syncopated Balearic funk of “Orbit”, the strings of album title track “City of all”, the organ-led jam “Gonna getya" and the downbeat “Sonder”. Allysha Joy -best known for performing in Melbourne Hip Hop collective 30/70 - is featured on the deep and jazzy cut “Looking up”. If Makèz and Allysha are all looking up, it’s clear they’re seeing the same thing. These kindred spirits perfectly complement each other on this track, where the deep bass, warm harmonies and jazzy percussion prove to be a perfect foundation for Allysha’s rhymes.

Is it an album all about jazz and soulful tracks to listen to at home? Far from that. There’s a nice bit of dance floor-oriented tracks, where the distorted filter funk of “Roselane” featuring Fouk proves to be a highlight along with what is arguably the heaviest cut of the album: “Bent with funk”.

In an EP context, these house tracks would surely do their work, but they really come to life in this album format. No compromise has been made to storytelling and the house tracks all play their part while still standing their ground as powerful club tracks. It’s the expert production and smart arrangement that gives this album its casually funky feel. On “City of all”, Makèz showcase their remarkable talent for writing an album that goes to so many different places, but most of all, just really feels like home.

Enjoy the music,
Maarten & Lars
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Format : Vinyl 12” (180 gr., Limited Full Cover)

Track list :
A1 Makèz - Different planets
A2 Makèz - Different planets (Bobby Analog remix)
B1 Makèz - Random visits
B2 Makèz - Cosmic symphony

Release Info:
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of signing your first release with a record label. The combination of pride, anxiety and anticipation is almost unbearable. In the end, you get to hold your own record in your hands and realize this could be the start of something beautiful. In this case, it’s newcomers Makèz who get amped up for this with their debut release on Heist.

Makèz (formed by Jan-Willem Mulder and Kees van ‘t Klooster) are a duo from Amsterdam, where they both studied music production and sound design. Apart from DJ’ing under various aliases, they’ve also been organizing their own successful intimate party series “Peak Mystique” and that’s where we got to meet them. It was hard not to get infected by their musical enthusiasm and after a few listening sessions and some help of Fouk’s Daniel Leseman & Hans Peeman for the final mix-down, we were all really happy with the music they produced for Heist.

Their ‘Different Planets’ EP sees the duo navigate between disco flavored house, dreamy electronics and old school Chicago influences. The remix is by none other than Belfast based DJ and founder of Body Fusion: Bobby Analog.

The title track is a warm house bumper with an Italo-tinged bassline, filtered leads and fuzzy Rhodes chords. Female chants running in the background and an ‘eyes-closed-hands-up’ break down give this track a proper summer feel-good attitude. We know, cause that’s exactly what happened when we played the first demo of this track last year at our sunrise set at one of the coolest festivals in The Netherlands: Wildeburg.

Bobby Analog does a great job remixing ‘Different Planets’, flipping the original into a classic Chicago-tinged club track. Stabs, little synths licks and strings all give you that nod to a classic Chez & Trent production, whereas the clever bassline showcases a nice bit of Bobby’s own musical heritage.

The flip shows a deeper side of Makèz, with the synth heavy electronics of ‘Cosmic Symphony’ where a modulating Moog-like bassline and syncopated piano make for an uplifting atmosphere. The b-side is concluded by ‘Random Visits’; an arpeggio-infused tune with raw guitars and ditto percussion.

We’re super happy to introduce the world to Makèz and vice-versa. We hope you will enjoy the music as much as we do.

Yours Sincerely, Maarten & Lars.
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