Nick Chaconaʼs debut album has been a long time in the coming, the distillation of a decade of recording and producing for some of the worldʼs leading electronic music labels. But it has certainly been worth the wait as he teams up with the highly respected Moodmusic for the release of ʻLove in the Middleʼ, a collection of soul soaring and inspiring cuts that blur the imposed genre lines into non existence.

Brooklyn based Chacona began his music odyssey in the nineties, first as a DJ then producer, quickly gaining a reputation for an eclecticism born of his love of reggae and new found passion for house and disco. His breakthrough single ʻBand Practiceʼ brought him mass attention in the early noughties and led to partnerships with labels such as Ben Wattʼs Buzzin Fly, 20:20 Vision, Bearfunk, Prins Thomasʼ Internasjonal and of course Sasseʼs Moodmusic. Whilst his recording career took of in a big way his talents as a DJ continued to bring him plaudits worldwide and saw him travelling the globe in the pursuit of musical perfection.

And so, after ten long years in the studio, we finally have Chaconaʼs debut long player, the awesome ʻLove in the Middleʼ. Opening with the appropriately titled ʻEspecialʼ this album makes its intent clear from the very start with a warm and organic sound that dispels any concerns about this being a soulless ʻdanceʼ album. Deep, dubby and disco fuelled the opening cut gives way to the stunning ʻTurning and Tossingʼ before running the gamut of musical emotions with superb collaborations with Sheffieldʼs Kathy Diamond (The Fear) and Brothers Vibe (Wait). This is an album that oozes emotion and production quality from every bar be it in the Mr Fingers inspired ʻBe Like Oliveʼ or the bassbin shaking ʻEskayelatorʼ, Chaconaʼs talent truly shines on this stunning collection of tracks.

The sound of the album has been partly inspired by Nickʼs travels during the making of ʻLove in the Middleʼ; time spent with Sasse and James Flavour in Berlin lends a sense of the cityʼs vibrant atmosphere whilst stints in California and Colorado bring the fell of sunshine and space in equal part.

Fittingly Nick returned to his home town of Brooklyn, New York to complete the piece, moving in with his girlfriend Shanan Campanaro, who provides the inspiration for the title as well as the physical artwork the graces the sleeve of the release.

Nick Chacona has been a respected fixture in the world of electronic music for sometime but it seems that he is truly blossoming with this superb selection of recordings that simply cannot be ignored.