North Londoners Lawrence Gale Hayes & Louis Greenwood aka Wayward have been producing and DJing together for almost a decade, always with good taste and originality as their personal hallmark.
Although their beginnings were anchored more in House than in any other style, they have always been looking for new stylistic challenges in their production throughout their career, with surprising twists and variations always full of quality.
They have released since their beginnings a long series of EP’s on different labels, especially on Silver Bear Recordings, where since 2017 they are also in charge of the A&R department. But it wasn’t until 2021 that they recorded their first full-length album, and that was Waiting For The World, released in March of this year that we are just finishing.
That first album was a declaration of principles and a sample of their eclecticism, combining Breaks, D&B, Jungle, House and even Ambient with a lot of analogue and danceable flavour.
When someone plays so many styles and the result is optimal, it is irrefutable proof that there is quality in its authors. Waiting For The World is not going to be on a lot of those lists at the end of the year, because it hasn’t made the noise it really deserved… sometimes the specialized press misses great works or allows itself to be dazzled only by names of a certain resonance.
Not content with that excellent debut work, Lawrence and Louis have wanted that album to receive remix treatment from a handful of up-and-coming artists with, once again, a more than remarkable result.
Tim Reaper, Cameo Blush, System Olympia and Eliza Rose are among an impressive list of artists who have remixed these tracks. Waiting For The World Remixed, 10 emerging and cutting-edge artists Wayward has admired in recent years reimagine the music, retaining the influences that permeated the original album.
Who better than the duo themselves to talk about this work: “It was important that the remixes reflect the broad spectrum of genres that influenced the album, and we’re very happy to have achieved that. From Tim Reaper’s jungle remix to Tour-Marbourg’s dubby, Balearic remix and everything in between, it’s given us the opportunity to showcase artists who are just starting their careers, as well as more established artists who we really admire, all of whom are pushing the boundaries and taking electronic music to an exciting place.”
One of the first advance singles, All A Bit Mad (Tim Reaper Remix), was released on December 1st, and features Wayward’s original vocals sampled from Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso cheering the crowd at a Roundhouse gig before the close.
Other advance tracks are by Kareem Ali (who liked the original Ridge Road so much that he has remixed it twice in house and dnb versions), and the album will be released next year, on 25 February. If the undersigned has to choose one track from the album, I think the remix of Casper Pt. 2 by BAE BAE is tremendous. Like the whole album in fact.
