04 Feb Ezel & Rona Ray – Take Me Home LP (Bayacou Records) Who Music Magazine
Bayacou Records presents the long anticipated collaborative album between soulful powerhouse duo Ezel & Rona Ray. Having consolidated their position with an array of previous singles, all of them achieving critical acclaim, they are now ready to unveil to the world their magnum opus in a full album experience showcasing the depth of their joint creative vision.
Having had significant success both together and individually, Dominican producer Ezel and singer / songwriter Rona Ray are no strangers to the global scene. Hailing from Russia, Rona Ray has become a strong staple in the modern soulful house landscape. Owner of an inimitable vocal timbre and a masterful conjurer of both lyrical and harmonically feats that set her apart as force to be reckoned with. Just recently she landed her first single on the mighty Defected Records and in the past has worked with such legends as Dj Spen & Terry Hunter to name a few. To describe the musical phenom that is Ezel you really have to take in consideration in the last 3 years he has single handedly risen to the elite of house music producers, landing #1 chart topping hits with original work and remixes that features his special touch as it seems everything he touches make its way into the top of the ladder of modern underground dance music. As the owner of his own imprint, Bayacou Records he has managed to produce, release and promote 3 significantly special previous singles with Rona Ray that now become the cornerstone of this album release that in essence needs no introduction as they have prepared its stomping grounds to perfection.
‘Hard to Stay Away’ their first collaboration together back in 2021, that is also included as one the songs of the album, still sits at the helm of the main editorial charts in Spotify, has seen the constant spin of Djs such Dj Spinna, Kai Alce, Isoul8 among others and its currently on its fourth repress cycle on vinyl as its physical inception has become a strongly coveted item featuring one of the most distinct and memorable remixes of UK house maestro Atjazz. Their follow up single ‘No Gravity’ unique for its clever use of an odd time signature 5/4 over 4/4 dance constancy hits you like anything else you have heard and immediately makes big guns in the genre notice, as if these two are trying to really tell us something here. Later, in the summer of 2022 their first real summer hit arrived in the form of ‘Don’t Know Yet’. Even to this day you can hear house music royalty like German house don Mousse T, new generation powerhouse Ash Lauryn, the iconic Natasha Diggs and even the world famous Seth Troxler include it in their sets as it has been documented on several social media posts. And if you are thinking that marked the ceiling for these two, what they did with their latest single ‘History Repeating’ was the last straw that broke the camel’s back as they say, an instant #1 traxsource overall hit that saw massive overall support and was literally played everywhere especially in discerning floors in the UK and the United States as their superbly sound was put in world Dj Spen conveyed to Ezel as ‘how modern soulful house should sound in 2023’