A1 – Illusions
B1 - Sound Crazy
B2 - Ads Mood

Adam Cook aka Tommy Rawson returns to Bergerac with another killer EP of uplifting, tropical deep house, broken beat and Brit funk vibes. Following on from 2018s Gilles Peterson hammered 'Deep Blue' EP, he returns to Red Rack'ems Bergerac label with an absolutely killer 3 tracker which showcases the Watford, England based producers world class musical chops. Surely a contender for THE summer record with a sun kissed Brit funk A side which is tailor made for the WWFM and We Out Here crew. A tropical house and broken beat burner make up an equally strong flip. We are very happy (and relieved) to be presenting to you an absolutely belting EP of UK soulful dance music.

It's nothing short of a miracle that the A side track 'Illusions' has ever made it on to vinyl. Jonna from City Fly remembers 'Adam had this on a CDR at Southport in 2008 and it became our official track of the festival as we all partied together the whole weekend it got played again and again back at our Chalet parties'. But then as these things often sadly go, the funk diamond was lost for a few years in the digital ether. Fast forward to 2014 and Danny Berman aka Red Rack'em is playing a 320 of 'Illusions' everywhere but alas it's just a demo and Adam can't locate the arrangement to complete the track as it's on a broken computer in his Mums attic.

Then finally this year, after many pleading emails and plenty of gentle cajoling, there's some amazing news! Adam has located the broken computer and after a day of digital open heart surgery, and then a re-edit over Zoom (no really) we finally had the killer, classic UK soulful anthem you're listening to today. A voice over from a disco documentary cleverly introduces each instrument on the intro before Tommy pushes the button marked 'biggest bassline of the year' and takes us into boogie heaven.

'Sound Crazy' on the flip is another one of those classic Afrobeat tinged Tommy rollers. Big room vibes but with a lot of soul. Rolling broken drums and a huge bassline combine with plenty of spicy, tropical atmosphere on top. The trademark Rawson uplifting chords begin after an anticipatory vibe filled breakdown, taking you to the stratosphere.

'Ads Mood' is the most 'classical' broken beat track on the record, but they are all playable in multiple environments and transcend mere genres. Heavy bass and extra funky syncopated beats climax into a beautiful almost orchestral feel to close off an exemplary EP of higher quality moods and emotions. Don't sleep. More

Tommy Rawson releases are sporadic but always high quality. As a former member of the Souled duo who ran the excellent Fresh Minute label – he’s been around the more tropical end of UK house and broken beat for many years and this, his first full release for Bergerac ushers forth a new level in his sound. This whole record is a masterclass in post bruk, forward thinking, shining, bright UK dance music. Unmatched in emotion and vibes.
Deep Blue is quite simply the sound of the summer. Sun drenched, euphoric and soaring. Broken but not broken, 4/4 but not quite housey. Jazzy, soulful….yeah.... It was the highlight of Red Rack’ems Olive Grove closing set at Love International last year when it provided the most halcyon of moments. Live trumpet from Vicky Flint and a whole bag of vibes from Tommy Rawson. This is a classic. Trust.
Past Tense is a super tropical African tinged house stomper which shows Tommys love of sunshine vibes once more with acres of space, insistent chants, dubby pianos and a tinge of Jungle roller bass.
final track Into The Future takes us into almost Blade Runner-esque orchestral emotion but with a kind of Balearic feel tucked in there too. Beautiful, lilting, emotional memories. You can feel so much love in this track.
Such a special record. Buy it. Love it. Treasure it.
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Little is known about mysterious producer Tommy Rawson. Our first acquaintance was the aptly named ”Shy Track” on Red Rack'em’s Smugglers Inn 001 release. We tried to find out more but the trail got cold pretty quick. It was not until hearing Gilles Peterson playing a version of Hugh Masekela’s ”Don’t Go Lose It baby” on his show that word got around, Tommy Rawson was back. This particular anthemic track found it’s way to Mats who then started playing it out and every time, in every club no matter where in the world the reaction was same, people completely lost it on the dance floor! We had but no choice to release the track and luckily enought Tommy must have a sixth sense because at the same time Mats blasted the track at the Local Talk office to convince Tooli shouting ”this is the next big release for Local Talk, I’m telling you!!” another track made it into his mailbox, the soulful house jam Brenda Done Died With No Name. Both tracks ended up on this 12” of course. Mr Rawson has delivered the goods here, warm, sunsplashed music all the way. A name to watch for this year and probably not mysterious for long More