(Mat Recordings/MGM)

Kate Monroe brilliantly produces the the third installment in the Mat series with Mat Clear. Following on from Mat Black and Mat White, the latest release is an 11 track CD compilation full of sultry, sexy and soulful house numbers.

Having recently traveled to Sydney over the New Years period, I took in a night at Home and was treated to two hours of power from Miss Monroe, one of Australia’s most renowned female DJ’s. She produced a masterpiece two-hour set full of slamming electro and house anthems. With this still fresh in my mind it took me somewhat by surprise that this album is very much removed from that live slamming set. This is not to say that the album is not enjoyable, because it certainly is. This third installment in the Mat series is labeled as beautiful, funky, slinky, sexy house by Kate herself and is the recovery CD that keeps your foot tapping when you have gone home and left the club.

The album starts off like promised, with a beautiful selection of sultry, sexy and soulful house numbers. Learn To Love Yourself brilliantly opens the album but is soon upstaged by one of, if not, the best track on the album, Turn On.

The album floats through the beginning with I Believe In Dreams, Live Your Life and Hypnotise, with the latter the pick of the three. Onwards and Feel It is one of the album’s highlights. Feel It by Darrly D’Bonneau on the other hand is a brilliant piece of soulful, gospel house. It’s the sort of track that makes you want to run into an African-American house of God, throw back your hands and close your eyes and praise the lord. Moving on, the Kurd Maverick mix of Soul Power by Full Intention is about as good as it gets with this brand of house and had me reaching for the replay button over and over again.

Deep In Your Heart represents the distinctly faster paced second half of this album, which is a lot more dance floor friendly than the first five or six selections. Followed brilliantly by yet ANOTHER highlight of this now super impressive album, Need Your Lovin is one of the album’s better selections, and with every listen grows on you more and more. By this stage the music is a little bit more dance floor driven and is set deep on a groovy soulful track. The penultimate track Get A Move On is a brilliant selection, a little bit more obscure to what else is featured.

The last track is one of Kate’s very own, with her collaboration with Glenn Humphries to produce CSL-DSL. A driving house piece that is and a real treat for signing the album off on.

Overall this is an incredible well produced, mixed and programmed compilation; but you’d expect nothing less from someone of the ilk of Kate. While this soulful, sexy house does have a place to reside within my musical tastes, I think personally the more energetic Mat Black would have been more to my likening. In saying that though, with every listen of this album it continues to grow on me… in a good way.

So for the real house heads out there, if sultry, sexy and soulful house is your particular taste then you will fall in love with this compilation.