Inside Louis Millne’s ‘Touched’ EP, Function, Restraint, And Late Night Club Intent On Take Notes
- Undrtone Blog
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
Take Notes opens 2026 with intent as Louis Millne delivers the ‘Touched’ EP, a sharp two-track release that reinforces both the label’s identity and Millne’s growing authority as a club-focused producer. Landing on 16 January, the EP pairs Millne’s original with a remix from Mahony, marking Mahony’s first remix since the label launched.
Built squarely for the dancefloor, ‘Touched’ reflects a very specific environment. Millne had late-night rooms in mind from the outset. “I was thinking about those darker, late-night warehouse moments where the room is locked in,” he explains. “You can afford to let a big vocal breakdown breathe before dropping back into something heavy.”
Early 2000s hip-hop vocal fragments sit tightly against gloomy, rolling drums, locking into a stripped-back, minimal tech groove with clear peak-time intent. The vocal never dominates; instead, it acts as a pressure point that resets energy rather than distracting from the flow. That balance is instinctive rather than calculated. “It’s always more of a feel thing than something I calculate,” Millne says. “If it starts to feel like the vocal is leading the track instead of sitting inside the groove, I’ll pull it back.”
That instinctive control has become a defining feature of his sound. While rooted in gritty minimal tech, Millne is consciously refining his place within it. “I’m really focused on finding those pockets of space where not many people are operating,” he explains. “I’m more interested in building something that feels original and lasting.”
Despite releasing on labels with strong identities, Millne avoids writing to the brief. “I don’t sit down to write for a specific label,” he says. “I just make whatever comes out of the studio, and once something feels finished, I’ll share it with people I trust.” In this case, that trust led naturally to Take Notes, where the EP found its home without compromise.
On remix duties, Mahony strips ‘Touched’ back into something darker and more hypnotic. Muffled bass, tightly wound drums, and restrained tension reshape the original into a tool built for deeper moments. “There are actually moments in my own sets where his version fits the room better than the original,” Millne admits. “That’s one of the best things about a strong remix. It gives the track another life.”
The release lands off the back of a defining period for Millne. Throughout 2024 and 2025, releases on Sola, Issues, Take Notes Trax, and Short Circuit received consistent support from names such as Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati, and Paco Osuna. His collaboration with Alex Culross picked up Arielle Free’s BBC Radio 1 Big Whopper, while ‘Second Guessing’ on Dosmundos reached number three in the Beatport Deep and Minimal Singles Chart.
Still, Millne avoids finishing records with specific selectors in mind. “If it works on my dancefloor, that’s usually the first real sign it’s doing what it should,” he says, pointing to patience as central to his process.
“If a loop can hold my attention over ten or fifteen minutes without feeling static, I know it’s got the kind of subtle movement that will translate in a long blend.”
‘Touched’ opens the first chapter of his 2026 output, with releases lined up on Repopulate Mars, Moan, and beyond. As momentum builds, his focus remains grounded. “It’s all about trusting my sound and staying true to what feels right in the studio and on the dancefloor.”
Functional, restrained, and built for longevity rather than quick impact, ‘Touched’ captures where Louis Millne is right now. Locked into the club. Confident in patience. And moving forward with clarity rather than noise.
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