Available on: Everyone Needs a Theme Tune EP, PMR

‘Tastemaker’ is certainly one of the more awkward, clunky phrases bandied around music journalism, but in the case of Pitchfork, it’s probably alright to let it stand. Seldom has my Facebook feed been more united by sound than when Pitchfork previewed ‘Battle For Middle You’, the latest cut from Bristolian Julio Bashmore, where for a moment at least, the arguments about the various tangents of UK dance music stopped and everyone just fucking listened.

Rightly so, as Bashmore’s ‘whatever’ offers up the sort of unifying, cut-to-the-core house that made Mosca’s ‘Square One’ or L-Vis 1990’s ‘United Groove’ so indispensable. With its reverberating vocals stolen straight from parties past, Bashmore imbues the track’s juddering shuffle with the sort of animated late night energy that every producer should strive to develop. Whilst past releases have cemented Bashmore as a rising star in the ascendant, ‘Battle For Middle You’ guarantees that for this Bristollian, the hype is justified.

Mike Coleman