Other Alex Nemec
ALEX NEMEC & NIK FERAL 'The Girl In The Red Dress' [BAPTISM] lo q clip

If the crumbling of distinguished tech-house duo Alex & Filip left some of Alex Nemecs hardier fans in mourning, he wasted no time giving them something to cheer. Since the 2012 split, Slovenia-born Nemec has established a solo career that has bloomed rapidly. His demand is such that he has been busily border-hopping across Europe to perform in the continents most revered clubs. Mostly to capacity crowds.

Yet for all of his ongoing solo success, Nemec clearly still pined for a creative muse to work alongside. Step in Nik Feral, an edgy young tech-house producer from Manchester who has turned heads across Europe with the quality of his early output. Indeed one of Ferals first releases was handled by none other than Umeks 1605 imprint - seemingly a rite of passage for the cream of the tech-house crop.

Disproving the rule that every new collaboration needs time to bed-in, Alex Nemec & Nik Feral already have a string of acclaimed releases to their name and have been causing a stir with on-the-pulse DJs and club-goers across Europe. With the freshly-pressed Red Mistress EP, that looks set to continue.

The Girl In The Red Dress sees chunky beats joined by a marauding bass line to create a brooding and thoroughly engaging musical backdrop. Light hi-hats and airtight synthesised handclaps evidence meticulous production skills and an astute appreciation of the subtleties of rhythm. The Devil Wears Red, meanwhile, is darker yet retains a wonderfully menacing bass rumble. Busy filters shift and blur the aural landscape kaleidoscopically as wonderfully rhythmic synth lines conspire with throbbing bass drums and snares to form an infectious groove. Its testament to the creative nous on display here that both songs cruise past the seven-minute mark without once sounding tired or outstaying their welcome.

The homepage of Ferals official website features a startling graphic. Theres a glitter ball, a gramophone, a giant cats head. Its weird. Look closely however and you can make out the letters SEMPER FIDELIS - Latin for always faithful. Given the strength of this collaboration, that might be music not only to Nemecs ears, but tech-house fans across Europe too.