Ghostly goings on from secret manipulators and exotic strangers: Danza Macabra renew hostilities with the Croatian vocalist Diyala, headlining two deep house tracks that push the dancefloor close to the edge before bringing the vibe back into the light. The collaboration marks a resumption of a partnership that yielded ‘Getcha Wiv Me’ on the Slovenian label in 2011, a similarly deep bunker of clubbing featuring squirming vocal incisions, and a dub version that went on to be released on Silicone Soul label Darkroom Dubs. ‘In For It" is weaving a narrative bearing the Danza Macabra ethos as it recalls a flower growing in a field, surrounded by power plants and factories. When the flower sheds its petals, the wind and a friendly bird take it on a trip to the stars. Pushing ideas of courage and how anybody can choose and reach their destiny, the flower continues on a sightseeing mission through storms and mountains, until reaching a desert which is the cue for it to grow and blossom healthily. It certainly lives up to the label statement of being “only our dream in the real form.” The track itself shows that all that glitters is not gold. The hip-hop-raised Diyala, winner of Best Female Vocalist in her native Croatia, is found coaxing and stretching like a leather-clad temptress, realising the best traditions of breathy pop vamps and dance dominatrices. Fraught with impending danger, lyrics flex their control over the fragile mood like a snake ready to snap, and the wary, spindly rhythms and sense of foreboding through simple up-down chord changes, are tailored perfectly for moving under a full moon. The undulating instrumental ‘Don’t Forget Tomorrow’ opens the curtains and lets in a watery light, but is no less stark a dancefloor experience. Illuminated by sequential synth patterns in a willowy trance atmosphere approaching levitation, in many ways there’s the suggestion that you should just close your eyes and relax. Really, you should keep an eye and both ears open for what lies beneath
