Bontan Puts The Vocal First On Hot Creations Return ‘Talking Slow’
By the time ‘Talking Slow’ came out on 23rd October, Jamie Jones had spent the summer playing it. The single is Bontan’s third release on Hot Creations and his first since 2022’s ‘Gold Teeth’. It follows another Ibiza season in which the Liverpool producer made several appearances at Jones’ Paradise parties.
Much of the track’s character comes from the space Bontan leaves around the vocal. The percussion is crisp and the groove has a steady push, so the voice can set the mood while the drums keep the room moving. Over nearly seven minutes, there’s time for both to settle in. You can hear why Jones kept coming back to it.
Bontan’s first record for Hot Creations had a similar route into clubs. He spent six months playing and refining the title track from 2017’s ‘The First Time’ EP, working a darker vocal around a rolling bassline. When he returned with ‘Gold Teeth’, the rhythm took on more detail. Maracas and hi hats moved around the echoing vocal, giving the percussion as much presence as the voice.
The relationship with Jones has carried on through Paradise in the years between those releases. Bontan has played the party around the world, and his recent work has taken him from sold out North American tours to a debut on Coachella’s Do LaB stage. He’s also released on No Art and Good Company Records and launched his own label, North Drum, in 2025.
Nearly a decade on from ‘The First Time’, there’s a neat reversal in how the two records reached Hot Creations. Bontan spent months working the first one into his own sets. This time, it was Jones who kept the track in rotation before putting it out.
