Sophie Lloyd Digs Into London Records’ Archives For ‘London Revisited’ EP
Sophie Lloyd has been given free rein over the London Records archive for ‘London Revisited’, a four-track EP that brings lesser-known catalogue cuts into a contemporary house setting.
Rather than building the project around the label’s biggest hits, the long-standing Glitterbox resident has selected music by East 17, Carmel, Maria Rowe and Carlton, taking a different approach to each original.
East 17’s ‘It’s Alright’ receives a gospel-house treatment, with Sarah Ikumu re-singing its familiar vocal after Lloyd secured approval for the new direction. Carmel’s ‘More! More! More!’ took two versions to reach its final form, a jacking house edit built around a looped vocal.
Maria Rowe’s ‘Sexual’ was already a personal favourite of Lloyd’s through Graeme Park’s 1995 remix, while Carlton’s ‘Do You Dream’ called for a lighter touch. Lloyd retained much of the original drum material, adding a 909 bassline and Triton string pads rather than rebuilding the track from scratch.
“It was literally a DREAM project working with a label as iconic as London Records and being given the privilege to access their enormous back catalogue,” Lloyd says.
For London Records, the EP is an opportunity to draw attention to corners of its history that sit outside the pop and dance releases for which it is widely known.
“Rather than choosing some of the more ‘obvious’ tracks from the catalogue, Sophie has chosen some real gems from artists that didn’t get as much of the spotlight as they deserved,” explains the label’s Nick Fagg.
‘London Revisited’ treats the archive as material for new dancefloor interpretations while keeping the original artists and recordings at the centre of the project.
