WOLF + LAMB vs SOUL CLAP

Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap, two of the most exciting DJ duos of recent times, don’t believe in taking themselves too seriously — at a recent press shoot they really did dress up as superheroes.

Meanwhile, their DJ-Kicks mix is diametrically opposed to the banging soul-less beats that have dominated the club scene for, well, far too long. A 27-track journey full of emotion and changes of tempo and mood, it ebbs and flows like a moonlit summer tide, from gorgeous downtempo grooves such as Can’t See What Is Burning There by Nicolas Jaar to the slinky disco-house of South Aphrika by Lee Curtiss. It has more in common with Metro Area or even a disco icon like David Mancuso than anything else. Eli Goldstein from Soul Clap sums it up perfectly when he describes it as “gentle and deep”.

The collective vibe is reflected in the fact that the entire mix is music from family and friends, with 9 exclusive tracks being released only on this mix. Says Eli: “The two we are the most excited about are Lonely C by Soul Clap featuring Charles Levine. It’s a special vocal track, really deep, but still catchy and emotional. There’s also this one by SECT called In The Park with vocals from Ben Westbeech. It’s a really floaty slow track with an incredible pop feel.” As well as capturing the Wolf + Lamb/Soul Clap sound, the DJ Kicks mix also helped them to define it.

“Doing the mix we realised that our vibe has something to do with emotion and I think it has something to do with tempo,” explains Zev. “The music that comes from our camp is slower than a lot of other dance music.” Charlie adds: “Also something that’s totally important is that we’re all American artists at a time when America is lacking in decent dance music. We’re very much trying to take the torch back and this legitimises what we’re doing. For Soul Clap, a lot of what we’ve done that has been hyped over the last couple of years has been edits. Now we’re looking at all original material released on !K7. It’s a timeless label and DJ Kicks is one of the oldest compilation series. It totally legitimises Wolf + Lamb, Soul Clap and this new sound.” Charlie concludes with this thought. “ Growing up in America in the ’80s and ’90s we were exposed to funk, disco, R’n’B and black music. This music that we’re making is very much rooted in all of that. People also forget that house and techno came from the States. We’ve grown up studying those artists. There’s this history there that we feel connected with.” It’s a lot more than a connection. Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap have written the next chapter.