Nu:Tone has been a constant presence at Hospital Records for the past six years—just not in the way fans might have hoped. Since 2014’s Future History, the Cambridge producer has traded the studio for the A&R desk and the mastering suite, helping shepherd more than 70 releases through the label’s doors. Sweeter / Do It Right marks his first solo outing in all that time, and it’s a homecoming that sounds every bit as warm and assured as his pre-hiatus work: a two-track dose of liquid Drum & Bass, laced with soul.
Lead track Sweeter is the headline act, and it earns the billing. Maiday’s vocal glides in early over rolling, sun-faded breaks, all honeyed harmonies and unhurried phrasing that sits perfectly in the pocket of Nu:Tone’s elastic bassline. The production is immaculate without ever feeling clinical—warm analogue pads cushion the mix, and the drums carry that soft, organic weight that made his early Hospital releases so distinctive. It’s a track that could soundtrack a late summer evening, and it never overstays its four-and-a-half minutes.
B-side Do It Right takes a more understated route, easing into a deeper, more nocturnal groove. The vocal is left behind in favour of a clipped, funk-edged bass hook and shimmering, reverb-soaked stabs, with the kind of swung, head-nodding rhythm that wouldn’t sound out of place in a DJ set at 2am. It’s the perfect foil to Sweeter—less immediate, but just as rewarding on repeat listens.
Six years is a long time to spend away from the booth, but Sweeter / Do It Right suggests Nu:Tone hasn’t lost a step. Both tracks are built with the care and attention to detail you’d expect from a man who’s spent half a decade polishing other people’s records, and the Maiday collaboration shows a producer still in love with the soulful end of the spectrum. A quiet, classy return—and a promising sign of what’s to come.
