Phlipper EP

If ever there was an EP that summed up Philipp Lauer’s loved-up approach to dance music, it’s this outing on Running Back. Full of dreamy chords, bold synthesizer riffs, kaleidoscopic electronics and floor-friendly rhythms, it’s an unashamed soundtrack to Balearic sunsets and Adriatic sunrises.

Opener “Philipper” sets the tone, offering a rush-inducing romp through dream house aesthetics, Italo-disco chug and Italo-house drums. Over on the flipside, “Muscle” is the sound of Patrick Cowley after a night dancing with the Pet Shop Boys on a beach in Rimini, while closer “Vizzi Vazzi” has all the loved-up charm of a celebrated late ’80s Shep Pettibone dub. In other words, the whole EP is an exercise in ear-pleasing, floor-friendly positivity.