It has been two years now since Niko Schwind’s debut album was released. In this time Niko has produced two records for Stil vor Talent, which showed his musical transition from more minimal tech-house to soulful house music. For his new album he has now produced ten tracks of house music that follow a musical journey from a pop-infused intro to musical dancefloor anthems. “Good Morning Midnight” starts out with the vocal house track “Good Morning” that features singer Fran, who has recently so successfully sang on Oliver Koletzki’s Tracks. This collaborative track is a slow-paced house groover with Fran’s whispered vocals acting as the perfect starting place for this album. The use of the piano seems central to Niko’s productions in this track and they remain a central element on the album. “Shine” is a track that slowly pulsates through a very prolific oldschool bassline, some great vocal samples and, yes, a wonderful harmonic piano melody. Things get a little more technological on “Playground Love", which features the typical ‘Schwind’-Groove that is comprised of some punchy beats and vocal samples on the loop. An epic breakdown makes this track ideal for the mix, and the samples that Niko throws in on the mixdown are perfectly well-placed. Then, “People” kicks things off in a deeper direction. The deep and slow-paced synthesizer melody juxtaposes the quite hectic nature of the loop and the bassline on this track. The result is a beautifully deep hit that seems perfect for the start of the peak time. Aiming for the peak time itself is the track “Midnight” that is best described as percussive tech-house that features some pretty wasted vocals, stomping bass sounds and pizzicato strings. Overall, a real unique track that is sure to set the floor on fire. For the second part of the album Niko has got together with some his closest production partners. First up are two tracks with his label buddies from Channel X with whom he has produced two melodic tech-house tracks
