In the world of progressive house and trance, the name Jaytech is familiar to many around the globe. This Canberra native has been releasing quality tunes for a number of years and already has a string of productions on some of the top labels in the business. In recent times he’s been working more closely with the boys from Above & Beyond, and their world-beating Anjunabeats label. Commissioned to put together a full-length album, Everything is OK is the debut from this prodigious talent and will certainly confirm him as a leading dance producer – irrespective of the genre.

Quite simply, there are some astoundingly good tunes on this album. Jaytech unashamedly writes beautiful dance music and here, he is able to explore all its various guises. I hesitate to use the word ‘uplifting’, especially in relation to an album being released on a label known mainly for its trance. A mere mention of the dreaded ‘u’ word has many a hardcore dance aficionado running screaming to the hills, however Jaytech’s album is exactly that – uplifting. It is positive, energetic and luscious while still completely credible. Less about the furrowed brow, and more about the broad, uncomplicated grin.

From the subdued warm pads of the opening track Nightwawk, to the funky-arse bassline that tears out of the speakers during Special X, Jaytech’s music explores the full melodic spectrum – soaring licks, warm basslines, subtle harmonies and delicious vocals. He also knows how to hit a house groove on the head, and repeatedly does so with tracks like Solero and Groove Nova. In many ways, Pepe’s Garden exemplifies what Jaytech is all about: a great balance of driving rhythms, a gut-thumping bassline and wonderfully textured melodies. I am not sure where Jaytech met this ‘Pepe’ character, but you can tell he had a pretty damn nice garden.

Melody Gough lends her vocal chords to two of the softer tracks on the album – Gray Horizon and Drive – and her sweet tones blend beautifully with Jaytech’s production aesthetic. You can just tell these tracks will be getting the remix treatment in future to take them to the next level. She also offers some respite to what is otherwise is a predominantly instrumental (electronically speaking) focus of the album. Jaytech is someone who has been releasing electronic music since the age of 14, so not surprisingly, the production quality is superb throughout.

There is perhaps no better track here than Pyramid. It’s one of those tunes that stops you dead in your tracks; it begs for your full attention, literally crowding your mind with its swirling melodies that literally drip with energy. It emphasises why you fell in love with electronic music in the first place. And it makes the corners of your mouth twitch with excitement. It makes you realise why we evolved to have hairs on the back of our necks – so music like this can make them stand on end. One of those tracks where you just need to close your eyes to take it all in. Brilliant stuff.

While there’s no doubt there’s some amazing tunes here, Everything is OK somehow just falls short of feeling like a cohesive album. At times it does feel more like a compilation of tunes for the DJ – almost all tracks start with a typical percussive intro and then conclude with the anticipated outro (of course, this is an asset for DJs). Perhaps it’s because some of the tracks here are not exactly new (both Natsukashi and Groove Nova have appeared in various forms up to two years ago). Or perhaps it’s because he hasn’t yet looked outside the structure of individual club tracks to deliver something that conceptually, is more than the sum of its parts. Regardless, there’s no denying the remarkable talent of Jaytech, and his incredible knack for creating beautiful melodies without ever having to dip his tunes in cheese.

Like many of Jaytech’s previous releases, his tunes refuse to be conveniently pigeonholed and his sound easily straddles many a subgenre. Basically, if you like melody and you like to dance, you will love Everything is OK. Whatever it was that the album’s title came from, Jaytech’s debut album is miles in front of OK.

Check out the recent ITM feature and the tracklisting is below…

1. Nighthawk
2. Highway Rockers
3. Solero
4. Pepe’s Garden
5. Pyramid
6. Gray Horizon Ft. Melody Gough
7. Natsukashi
8. Groove Nova
9. Vela
10. Special X
11. Deadlock
12. Drive Ft. Melody Gough