Roska has got an album coming. This is kind of a big deal, aside from Geeneus’ One LP in late 2008, UK Funky hasn’t really produced any notable albums of yet. This is no suprise, the genre is still relatively in it’s early days, despite being apart of the a massive canon of house music. The music industry may be changing but the long player and the album certainly still hold importance, as we saw with dubstep once some of the big players start to produce albums not only the individual artists’ success but also the acknowledgement and respect for the whole genre expands tenfold. It is, after all, only a small niche of people that continuously keep up to date and buy 12″s week in, week out.

You can stream the three tracks on the first EP from the album below. It’s due to be dropping on 27th March so these are ultra-up front. It’s a good choice of tunes for the preview EP too, each one showing a different side to Roska’s ever-expanding style. Time Stamp has to be the standout song, if you’ve tuned in to Brackles’ recent sets on Rinse then this will be no stranger to you. The groove and bass, quickly established, won’t fail to shift many a dancefloor whilst the melody is both catchy and playful. Based on what we’ve heard before Today Is Tomorrow strikes me as the most traditionally Roska sounding on the EP. The dark, rolling bassline and strung stabs are Roska through and through while the rhythm exemplifies exactly why UKF has caused garage to come back in vogue. Love 2 Night features Jamie George on vocals, who has sung for Roska before on Wonderful Day, and offers a much smoother and more soulful take on funky that will probably get Roska some more wide spread attention and works as a nice juxtaposition to the other darker and more club orientated excursions on the EP. The perfect bridge between what has gone before and what is still to come.

The album is called Roska and is out 5th April on Rinse.

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Roska – Time Stamp

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Roska – Tomorrow Is Today

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Roska – Love 2 Nite (Feat. Jamie George)

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(Original photo by Shaun Bloodworth)