Max McFerren‘s debut for New York label Sci-Fi & Fantasy was a strong slice of classic house that came out swinging. Now, the DJ/producer has announced his next release, a four-song EP entitled Put It Up With That (out on July 16). The title track gets things going right away: McFerren takes the fairly common house tropes of diva vocals and insistent hi-hats and wrangles them into something uniquely fresh and, more importantly, his own. There’s an urgency in how the arrangement builds with a crunchy, warped arpeggio and a backwards, reverb-drenched cymbal splash, before it subtly unfolds with some sensual chords that could have been cut from a lost Whitney Houston b-side. McFerren manages to take us to a few magical heights while keeping our feet glued to the dancefloor, and more of that can be heard in the preview of his upcoming EP, after the jump.

Put It Up With That (I Need U2)