With efforts for Ramp/PTN, Roska Kicks and Snares, 50Weapons (usually alongside Benjamin Damage), and his own Ten Thousand Yen label, Doc Daneeka has certainly built a solid reputation as a producer, but—with the exception of his and Damage’s “Creeper,” perhaps—has not exactly delivered a trademark “tune” since appearing on the scene a few years back. However, Daneeka’s first turn for Glasgow’s reputable Numbers imprint may remedy that predicament, as its a-side cut, “Walk On In,” is a certified monster.

“Walk On In” does not really attempt to push the boundaries of underground dance music, and in this case, that is just fine. In the simplest terms, “Walk On In” is a solid, bass-fueled house tune—one drenched in filtered soul and topped off by a smoky vocal sample which is chopped into quick syllables and the looping phrase which provides the song’s title. A collaboration with CRST affiliate Ratcatcher, “Walk On In” is led by these rearranged vocal samples, but the meat of the track is in the beat—a low-swung house groove that operates in the deeper ends of the spectrum, but certainly is not “deep house” in the conventional sense. The musical sample which the beat revolves around is so buried in filtering that it is hard to tell what exactly is at play, but one can faintly pick up a few piano chords and some droning horns somewhere in there. The musical details are a bit irrelevant though, as it is really the resulting groove that makes “Walk On In” such a success, as its effortless, instantly inviting swing allows Daneeka and Ratcatcher to wait until well after the two-minute mark before introducing the song’s full bass weight. Moreover, it enables the two producers to do little more than filter elements in and out of the track for almost eight minutes without losing momentum.

On the flipside, “Trife Pt. II” comes in as an admirable effort, trading in the soul-drenched vibes of its a-side counterpart for more warehouse-minded chords and hardware-born rhythms, which come with some delicately implemented pads thrown on top. It’s certainly a solid cut, but considering what it’s up against, the track does little to distract from “Walk On In”—a song that ultimately shows it is possible to make fun and catchy dance music without dumbing down one’s delivery or watering down one’s craft. Daneeka (and Ratcatcher for that matter) surely deserves credit for hitting that hard-to-find balance right in the sweet spot.