La Priest

Into the Sky (Clear Vinyl) La Priest Clear vinyl edition

"I'm not sure which way I'm going, but it's exciting - that's the spirit of this album," says Sam Eastgate of his latest La Priest record, Into The Sky. And Into The Sky does feel genuinely exciting, not least because it finds Eastgate trying a new approach and in the process making some of the most satisfying music of his career. By composing these ten tracks on his custom-built Polygene synth and Gene 616 drum machine, he uses a distinctive sound palette to intuitively fashion a set of laser-guided pop songs on which he sings of love and liberation, swathed in pulsing electronics.

"For a long time, I wanted to make stuff for your mind. This one is more for the mind and the body," he says. "I made this record to dance to. I haven't really done one that you could put on and dance all the way through before." To that end, he worked closely with his friend Alex Ridha - Boys Noize - who produced the album with Eastgate and also mixed it. The pair have known each other since his Late of the Pier days in the late 2000s, "back when we were all pretty much teenagers. The reason I thought of Alex is because he's doing such an innovative job in electronic music and I'm revisiting a style I haven't done for a long time." Enhanced by Ridha's dynamic production, Into The Sky possesses a verve and immediacy that seems to illuminate La Priest's trippier instincts.