Dirg Gerner – Dirg Gerner – 12 Vinyl

Behind a faux mysterious front, the producer known as fLako reveals his tru soul boy side with this loose but perfectly manicured suite. Six songs entirely produced and sung by the German-raised Chilean ex-pat step on from the styles heard on his ‘Rubies & Diamonds’ for Hotep Records with Eglo regular Fatima. It’s all oh-so-proper soul music, dashingly blue-eyed and twinkling with filigree melodies and neatly kept off-the-grid beats. Opener ‘Got Your Back’ is steeped in smoothest jazz and curdled with super-sweet electronics, whilst ‘Viscious Cycle’ teases with marimba melody and chiming harmonics around his effete vocals. ‘Window’ deals in slick R&B, and ‘Mapa Bells’ offers the most inventive drum programming, something like his better fLako beats, and ‘What A Life’ toys with a sort of baroque electronic soul style.