TuneLab
ZHU
at Hakuba Iwatake in Nagano, Japan for Cercle
ZHU in the Japanese Alps, because if you’re going to soundtrack existential dread and sensual mystique, you might as well do it surrounded by snow-capped peaks and bewildered skiers. The Hakuba Iwatake setting is stark and beautiful, a contrast to the dark, sultry electronics weaving through the cold air, making us all feel like characters in a slightly pretentious but utterly compelling film. This is a masterclass in moody, melodic deep house, with a tempo that ebbs around 123 BPM and a harmonic center often found in the moodier 5A, punctuated by shifts to 12A and 3B. The energy profile is notably balanced, with a strong mid-range presence (0.34) allowing for intricate melodic work and atmospheric pads to shine over the deep, pulsing low end.
ZHU’s mixing is cinematic and patient, building tension through layered textures and his own smoky vocal snippets, creating a cohesive, almost narrative-driven experience. The crate digging here is exquisite. Benno Blome’s “Spherical Aberration (Jiggler Remix)” opens with a bubbling, hypnotic tension that immediately pulls you in. The blend of JMO’s “Arcelia (Avoure Remix)” with ZHU’s “Came For The Low” is a slick, genre-blurring move that showcases his curatorial ear.
Denis Horvat’s “Noise” fused with “Palm of My Hand” is a peak moment of shadowy, melodic techno-inflected house. Don’t miss Marcus Meinhardt’s “Duke (Jiggler Remix)” for its driving, melodic urgency or the BLOND:ISH remix of “My Life” for its psychedelic, rolling reinterpretation of a pop gem. The journey begins in the deep, mysterious waters of “Spherical Aberration,” climbs through the personalized peak of his own edits, and descends via the climactic mashup of “Stairs” and “An Evidence Of Time (Claude VonStroke Remix)” for a closing that is both triumphant and deeply hypnotic.