German duo Monkey Safari—Lars Rühlemann and Sven Fröhlich—have spent years refining a sound that sits somewhere between deep house warmth and peak-time drama, and their second release for Anjunadeep follows last year’s Gravity / Daka, a record championed by Joris Voorn, Hernan Cattaneo and Kölsch. Beach is a three-track EP that finds the pair exploring three distinct moods: breakbeat-led dancefloor pressure, hook-driven vocal warmth and late-night ambience.
The breakbeat-led title track, credited jointly with Borneo, sets the record’s tone. Instead of the four-to-the-floor bedrock most of the duo’s catalogue rests on, a loose, rolling break drives the groove, its snares and hats tumbling around a warm sub bass. Layers of airy pads drift in and out, and the production stays spacious and unhurried, letting the rhythm breathe. It’s a confident, heads-down opener that proves Monkey Safari are just as comfortable off the steady kick as they are locked onto it.
Free is the EP’s most immediate moment: a four-to-the-floor pulse, a warm undulating bassline and a vocal hook that lands with genuine ease, the kind of refrain that does exactly what its title promises. Pads swell around the groove without ever crowding it, and the arrangement keeps the focus squarely on that voice. Closer Can’t Sleep leans fully into the ambient wash that Beach only hinted at—shimmering chords, a slow-blooming arpeggio and, when the beat finally arrives, a gentle pulse that feels like the sun coming up rather than a club peak. Together the three tracks trace a single day’s arc, from dancefloor to comedown.
Beach is a well-balanced EP that shows Monkey Safari comfortable in both of their modes: rhythmically adventurous and unashamedly melodic. The production is clean and considered throughout, the pads lush, the basslines purposeful, and the record rewards repeat listens as each track reveals a little more of its texture. A strong follow-up that consolidates their place in Anjunadeep’s increasingly crowded stable.
