(Jugglin’ Records/Raw Fusion Recordings)

A1: Available (Original mix) (4.11)
A2: Available (Hearin’ Aid mix) (4.50)
B: Available (Rasmus Faber remix) (6.55)

Swedish nu-soul singer / songwriter Linn has been involved in Sweden’s underground scene for some years now, training with the likes of producer James Poyser (Jill Scott, Erykah Badu), but this debut 12” from fledgling label Jugglin’ (a new imprint of Raw Fusion Recordings focussing on nu-soul / r’n b sounds) marks her first officially released material.

On the A-side of this 12”, the Original mix of ‘Available’ features Linn’s smooth soul vocals over a smooth nu-soul inflected downtempo hip hop beat provided by UK producer Don E, flanging synth clavinet keys ringing against synthesised slap bass and tinkling keyboard runs. There’s also some neat and slightly retro syn-drum cascades, but overall this is a sunny piece of synthetic soul in the vein of Hill St. Soul or Jill Scott, with the warmth of Linn’s vocals counterbalancing the programmed iciness of the beats nicely. Hearin’ Aid (none other than Raw Fusion resident DJ / MC Aaron Phiri) throws down a crunching Madlib-esque hip-hop loop and some fat live bass on his remix, retaining the entire original vocal, but also throwing in some distant scratched MC shout-outs and even a renegade rave-style air horn sample, in my favourite mix of the three included here.

On the flip, house / garage producer Rasmus Faber lays down a broken house beat with some warm soulful pads and keys, only introducing Linn’s vocal a couple of minutes into the mix and scattering volleys of bongo percussion over the programmed kicks and hi-hats. Of the three mixes included here, this one is by far the most dancefloor-oriented and would easily slip seamlessly into a slightly more retro Moog-tinged broken beat house set.

A strong debut 12” from Linn, with some quality remixes by Hearin’ Aid and Rasmus Faber dragging the r n b-infused original into some rather interesting hip-hop and house directions respectively – fans of broken-beat vocal soul should definitely check ‘Available’ out. Recommended for fans of Erykah Badu and Jill Scott.

Check out: www.rawfusionrec.com