Night Slugs

Following on from the fervour and turmoil of last year’s “Your Charizmatic Self” EP, Night Slugs executive producer Bok Bok teams up with composer and keyboardist Sweyn Jupiter on a romantic new double A­side single. “Papaya Lipgloss” is a song about young love, presented in two distinct but equally weighty versions.

Both mixes at their core share a common melodic motif, skeletal, yet startlingly sincere. The “Club Mix” draws on tribal House energy: a sweltering rhythm built of Latin percussion, Linndrum funk and pumping subs, over which melody gradually unravels in bursts of stark, juicy colour. Synths form a sensual narrative, remaining ever poised even as their pulpy goo engulfs all surfaces.

This is intimate club music that brings a new kind of intensity to dance floors. Meanwhile, the “Sour Mix” is saturated and dripping with bitter­sweet nectar. This version sees “Papaya” transformed into an opulent bedroom jam, complete with quaking kickdrums and purring Moog bassline. A halftime drum kit of dumpster­drive 808s keeps things gritty while melodic goo leaks from between all the cracks.

Artwork by Nic Hamilton