Panel and its inner circle have reached out their hands to support Britain’s National Health Service. The London-based record label has curated Inside Hour, a reflective ten-track compilation LP whose proceeds flow directly into the NHS, swerving platforms like Virgin Money Giving.
The light feet of label artists Yuki Ame and Phossa step across forefront UK bass beside future collaborators Somah, Congi, Husky, Landline, Jack Chrysalis and Tower Block Dreams. Many record labels are ploughing on with their release schedules, dropping countless summer bangers built for festival stages onto isolated ears. Panel have understood this, broadening homebound horizons in their first compilation album since Ample in 2017.
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‘A Brother’s Vow’, the opening track by Jack Chrysalis, builds the album’s tone tick by tock, until the clock stumbles into an angelic, garage-silenced church. Maintaining the pace and hovering over deserts beyond the smokeless skyline is one of the compilation’s brightest gems by Yuki Ame, ‘NFK’.
Phasing out of the dunes, Congi, Landline and Somah submerge the EP in rippling, moonlit sub bass, before Phossa’s ‘Close’ returns to London, reminding us how good the first dance will be once we’ve made it through lockdown. Husky then steadies the flow with the four-to-the-floor introspection of ‘Mayfly’, letting Tower Block Dreams sign off with open-heart echoes of the city whose skyline I write in, ‘Brighton’.
Louis, one of Panel’s main minds said;
we know the NHS isn’t a charity, nor should it be treated as one. Rather than public fundraising be treated as the norm, the NHS should be able to rely on state responsibility. But this situation is incredibly difficult for many people, and we all have friends and family working the frontlines.
These last few months haven’t been easy. The events are too big to smother over with positivity, keep calm and carry on, but even harder to stare in the eyes. I found that Panel and the eight contributing artists recognise that, lulling my living room into a comfortable, yet complex and honest landscape to reflect.
