Locked In Amsterdam Launches Vinyl Prints

The top-class dutch party series delivers a slamming & fresh first VA release

Born shortly before the pandemic, the Amsterdam organisation ‘Locked In’ was born from the desire of throwing intimate and purely underground parties. In the last years, the series got a notable name in the Dutch scene and beyond, also hosting notable guests such as Silverlining, Markus Summer and Charlotte & Rohmi. In 2020 Locked In starts releasing as a digital label also, and now in 2022, it enters a new realm and the next stage in the shaping of its sound and deliverance with its first vinyl print in the form of a four-tracker compilation.

This first record not only features different artists on each track but touches on different genres and influences of underground dance music. We start from the A1 by Bizarre Trax’s co-founder Jhobei, an extra-bouncy yet atmospheric groover - an uplifting bassline and smartly combined synth compositions give a strong core to this one, while the robotic vocal and scratches samples just give it that extra push to make it a special one that we’re sure will be just irresistible on dance floors.

The A2, Vlad Stuparenko’s ‘Untitled 03’, is an extremely interesting track that stirs the sound in a different direction from the beginning of the EP. A peculiarly crafted lo-fi hats work and the essential, hypnotic melody go to form a quasi dub-techno feeling to this one, like entering a submarine tunnel deep down the ocean. As the track progresses, Board of Canadaesque synths enter, in a rampant yet elegant take-over for the listener’s focus. We weren’t familiar with Stuparenko but we’ll surely follow his next productions, we were truly impressed by this one.

We are back into the surface on the b-side, with the bright grooves of N-Gynn’s ‘Morag’, which we are delighted to premiere in full on our channels. Similar to the A1, the driving bassline serves as a core element for the track, which then progresses with a retro, minimalistic, and unapologetically catchy melody and trippy, delayed vocal bits. A purely underground bomb.

Garouda’s ‘That Organ’ closes the release with its rolling house vibe. Deep pads gracefully build up this enthralling track which will surely do an outstanding job at moving crowds this summer. At this point, we have very high expectations both in terms of parties and releases from Locked In. We can only hope to join for one of their next gatherings this year. 

Words by Giovanni Bodrato

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N-Gynn, producer of the B1 premiered on our channels