Fort Romeau - Come Closer
Rawax has been a mainstay in the music zeitgeist for decades. The remound label has been producing some of the most informative and influential house and techno in the scene. It's not only a goal for many aspiring artists to be featured on one of the many prestigious sub-labels and offshoots. Being featured on any of those imprints carries a degree of prestige and signals quality to the wider dance music audience. Returning to the legendary German imprint is Fort Romeau, whose dramatic brand of disco and techno-adjacent house has become a mainstay on the festival circuit. Fort Romeau's rich celestial synth sounds allow for those big, theatrical hands-in-the-air moments every DJ looks for around sundown.
This time around, Fort Romeau reaches deep into his repertoire, bringing an uncharacteristically concise effort which relies much more on dub techno swells. Think of this as the highly effective limited series rather than the bombastic blockbuster. All aspects of the Come Closer EP (2026) feel more intimate. There's an effort within the record to make something that pops off as hard in the small club scene as it does on the festival circuit. The title track is a perpetually moving piece of dub techno excellence. It balances icy cords with saturated analogue warmth that slowly creeps into your joints with every repetition.
As the EP continues, things get deeper and deeper. The track'Got Soul' is rich and warm, with rounded kick drums and crisp, syncopated claps that provide a real groove. Fort Romeau leans further on his how's influences for this one, yet, interestingly enough, it feels much more minimal than past excursions, with a post-Detroit feel that references artists like Delano Smith or Moody Man, only with a little bit more smoke-machine action. A similar can be said for the final track, which slows things right down and gets this into chugging territory. With not much more than if something kicks, intricate hats, and a few vocal samples, Fort Romeau pulls off a master class in cooling the crowd down. Both "intermittent" and "cerebral" could classify the final cut on the EP. It's methodical, with the trippy vocal samples sounding straight out of the matrix, playing into the countercultural vibe of dance music.
The futuristic sounds of acid have been woven into each track on the EP, adding just an extra dimension to each cut. There's a psychedelic aspect of these elements that removes the temptation to overwhelm your emotional capacity, engages your adrenaline, and releases inhibitions. This is proper club music from Fort Romeau. It follows the textbook well while navigating the rules entirely and incorporating elements of EDM, psych, and dub.
Label: Rawax (2026)
Fort Romeau - Come Closer
