BOB 2015: PALMS TRAX (BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCER)

Some might argue Palms Trax broke-through with ‘Equation’ on Lobster Theremin in 2013. Jay Donaldson’s first release was that good. But, as with all truly great subterranean moments in dance music — like ripples in a pool — it takes time for the hype to spread.

Since those steely Motor City chords for Asquith’s label, he’s only dropped a couple of releases including ‘Forever’ EP (also for Lobster Theremin) but, such is their quality, he’s attracting widespread applause from the underground dance music community for his classy, modern twist on retro house.

It was the release of ‘In Gold’ earlier this year on Dutch label Dekmantel — home to the likes of Joey Anderson and Juju & Jordash — earlier this year that really helped push Jay into the spotlight of a far wider audience.

Its warm, offbeat bounce and spacious organ stabs once again marked him out — still in his mid-’20 as a producer with talent far beyond his years.

Based in Berlin but originally from near Bristol, he’s now a truly international artist, DJing as far afield as Tokyo and providing a remix for Jacques Renault’s NYC label Let’s Play House, proving once and for all, in 2015, that Palms Trax is no flash-in-the-pan phenomenon. 

With the next EP another exquisite flurry of melody just about to land on Dekmantel, you can rest assured he’s here to stay.

Words: ADAM SAVILLE