Last Rays of the Summer: Soak them up with Shine 2009

Ibiza’s status as the Mecca of summer clubbing is in decline. With drinks prices and entry now prohibitively expensive on the White Isle –€80 for a club? €25 for a JD & coke? Seriously? – and music that is only encapsulated on one of those godawful Ministry compilations, it could seem that the original Cafe del Mar ethos has been chucked straight out of the de luxe villa’s window, with any sense of blissful summer vibes steamrollered by a wallet-burning, hairgelled, white-shirted funky house patriarch who’s still wearing those Kanye West style-shades.

Shine 2009 (the year the band was formed) take Balearica back to the oldskool with an EP that sounds like bottled summer beaches. Laid-back dubby beats interplay with sundrenched, hazy bass waves and synthesised string crescendos. Not for them an emotional, disco approach; their debut EP ‘Associates’ doesn’t even sound like a club record, it’s more of a soundtrack to dusk, the relaxed tumble into a late night session with friends, sitting cross-legged on a beach around a low coffee table strewn with good quality whiskeys.

Despite this, it’s not heavy music. It is dark, and there’s a reflective edge, with a blissed-out piano loop bringing some welcome Hacienda-style vibes. This is Balearica at its most classic; harking back to a time when even chart-topping pop songs would break the acid-popping seven-minute barrier. In no way representative of today’s scene, or even the last decade’s club dance-trance bangers, Shine 2009 have crafted an EP that blends relaxed vibes with beats that slide on late into the evening blackness, dancing under the stars and ringing across a slowly-filling club.

They might not have the power to change a whole scene (and to be honest, it’s doubtful if they actually want to), but with this EP out imminently, and an album forthcoming, Shine 2009 are definitely ones to watch.

- Seb Law