June 21st, the first day of summer, is the day MIKE likes to release music and today we have the surprise drop of his Disco! album on vinyl, exactly 1 year since it dropped digitally, and we are lucky enough to have an RT UK colour as well as an NYC colour. Just like May God Bless Your Hustle was in 2017, Tears of Joy was in 2019, and Weight of the World in 2020, Disco! acts in much the same way MIKE’s prior albums did, like an annual status report. But for the first time it actually feels like a proper summertime album, one that retains the laid-back sensibility of his woozy and immersive productions but makes plenty of room for a warm, accessible jazz-rap production aesthetic. Entirely self-produced under MIKE’s dj blackpower alias, Disco! is endearingly lo-fi, from its crackly samples to MIKE’s microphone sibilance, yet the low-tech approach only enhances the hazy, homespun party vibe that permeates the album.
