Fantasia

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Release Date: 24 Apr 2020

BEATPORT notes (2020)

Cin Cin label owner Fort Romeau returns to Permanent Vacation with a glinting house release entitled ‘Fantasia’. Over the last decade, British artist Fort Romeau has continued to establish himself as an exceptional producer and DJ, enchanting crowds at key clubs across the globe, such as Panorama Bar, Jaeger, Good Room, and Sub Club. He’s also released on labels like Live At Robert Johnson, Correspondant and Running Back, dropping two superb albums on Ghostly International and 100%% Silk, not to mention recently teaming up with Vampire Weekend’s Chris Baio as C.Y.M. on Phantasy. Joining Munich’s renowned Permanent Vacation imprint, with three romantic italo-house-techno-trance stormers, ‘Fantasia’ opens with rebounding synth lines, glimmering melodies and an undercurrent of layered snares until ‘Neuromace’ douses the senses with blissfully atmospheric keys, pulsing bass and high fluttering harmonies. Finally, Fort Romeau provides a warehouse shaking reimagining of Suncreem’s 90s progressive anthem ‘Annadin’: layering in fresh kicks, sub-heavy acid licks and chopping up the original piano pattern for an infectious, dynamic effect.

JUNO review (2020)

During the ongoing global pandemic, many of us have been daydreaming about dancing the night away at clubs and festivals. When we are allowed to do this again, Fort Romeau’s “Fantasia” could well be one of the tracks we hear the most. Retro-futurist in tone, blessed with out-of-this-world acid lines and the kind of hypnotic, looped riffs tailor-made to tease you towards euphoria, the track has all the makings of a carefree dancefloor anthem. In contrast, fiendishly fast techno workout “Neuromancer” is much more of a dark room-friendly, heads-down affair, while closing cut “Annadin” – a collaboration with progressive house era outfit Sunscreem – is a similarly stomping slab of late night delight rich in echoing piano stabs, razor-sharp riffs, twisted acid lines and booming bass.