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There’s the kind of House music which can be a little bit, well, soft for me. A bit too ductile and weak. A good few years ago when I was out and about clubbing regularly in my youth, there were a few of house music tracks that never left my side because they were a little meatier and had sustenance. I was hooked and locked into them which is rare for me because I like variety. I still listen to some of those tracks now. To me they are timeless. Full in sound, wondrous vocals and having some flair. Those releases were by X-Press 2.

After creating some anticipation for their latest release, we are now cordially invited to ‘The House Of X-Press 2′, the new album which is ingeniously compiled with mass intellect and soul.

With Timo Garcia, Tim Deluxe, James Yuill, Amber Jolene, Doll, Alison Limerick and Analogue People In A Digital World over 12 tracks, this is a nice mixed up record with tribal drums one moment and then saccharin sweet, vocal house tracks making this once again sounding like it is more than worthy of another Ivor Novello Award somewhere in the tracklist. The album is tight, clean and very discerning.

All of the tracks are typically very good and pleasing to the ears but there are one or two absolute pearlers. For a start, having the vocals laid down two records is Roland Clark who has slapped the lyrics down for Fatboy Slim on a couple of occasions and perhaps more famously, Armand Van Helden’s ‘Flowerz’ back in ’99 which was the follow-up to his massively successful track which I can now no longer stand and shall not bother to mention further. ‘Let Love Decide’ is top drawer seductive house. Soulful vocals amongst the disco flavoured keyboards with the uptempo drums pecking away and the strong piano riffs adding some stability within the light hearted yet provocative groove and also appearing vocally on the track ‘Million Miles Away’ which is another one of X-Press 2′s progressive, dance-floor fillers that ticks all of the right boxes.

‘The Blast’ featuring former frontman for one of the UK’s most underrated indie-rock bands ‘The Music’ adds some psychedelia to the dream-scape track which is driven by such a warm, encompassing bassline. The tune ‘Get On You’ is classic progressive house by the act. Sunset on the beach style the same as ‘Time’ which features James Yuill.

One of the most sultry of tracks is ‘Frayed Of The Light’ due to the voice of Amber Jolene with her velvety smooth vocals over the top of the Baleric style beat which was put together alongside Timo Garcia. We have a slightly jazz tinged house track with very subtle wobbling bass tones supporting the echoing prominence of the keys. A very sexy number indeed.

Now the tune that seriously sticks out for me is the collaboration with Tim Deluxe. It has classic house elements, the massive vibe that stems from the sustaining gospel-esque vocal sample that parades throughout the track ‘Lost The Feelin”. It has a very firm structure from the start and it is built upon that strong drum track. It has the signature stuttering vocal samples which are famed on the ‘Muzikizum’ album – one of the most delightful albums that I possess – and it makes the track for me because of the familiarity it possesses. It is not overly complex, it progresses wonderfully and to be honest, I’ve just listened to this track several times before moving on to the next. It is house music at it’s best.

Below is the player that contains the album mini-mix which is up as a free download for your grabbing right here.

As far as “highly anticipated” albums go, for @xpre552 and house music fans it is about bloody time. Now I’m going to listen to this all over again.

‘The House Of X-Press 2′ by X-Press 2 is released by Skint Records on Beatport today, iTunes and Amazon on 16th and physically on the 23rd.

Download on: Beatport | iTunes UK/Europe | iTunes US/Canada | Amazon.co.uk |