Well, this effort for Cocoon completely reflects her production tendencies utilising deep grooves, controlled progression and all done with the urgency of a tortoise, with only one slight difference – a healthy presence of the more soulful side of house which is currently in vogue.

That is no bad thing, however. Quite often, the stripped back sound can get so reduced that the overall progression and atmosphere of a mix can quite easily drain out the bottom like a leaky bucket. Interspersing stripped back with soulful house adds a bit of colour and contrast to the vibe. And that’s what Cassy has done quite successfully here. In the opening stages, the deep flickering bassline of Baby Ford’s ‘Make Your Own Sunshine’ is contrasted against the disco loop of Trus’me’s ‘Good God’.

Continuing on the drawn out tip – oscillating between the stripped back and the soulful – the fluttering of metallic percussion and a heavily phased synth line on Jitterbug’s ‘No Pressure’ creates a hypnotic haze which perfectly tees up the bongo rhythms of Kai Alce’s’ ‘Power Thru Pt.3′. The same happens again moving from the bleepy judders of STL’s ‘Silent State’ to the flourishing and soaring strings of Future Beat Alliance’s mix of ‘Septemeber’.

From here, Cassy descends towards the deeper depths via a new, dark and sinister path. Her own production, ‘Magnificent Cat Won’t Do’, respires hypnotic horns and her trademark wispy vocals to create a dazed link into chugging layers of synths on Kassem Mosse’s brilliant ‘Untitled A1′. However, it doesn’t take long for Cassy to allow some soulful sounds to rise back to the surface through updated 2009 deep house sounds. Inland Knights, Kez Ym and Pierre Lx all contribute in rounding off the mix in warm bass and bright melodies.

Whilst this effort definitely doesn’t bowl you over with high energy beats and palpable bass sweeps – that’s not Cassy’s style – it culls your attention as it transforms through shades of stripped back sounds from the soulful to the deep, whilst always remaining with in a tidy 4/4 template.

Buy Cassy – Simply Devotion from Amazon (CD), HMV (CD | MP3), Play.com (CD | MP3)

Tracklist:
1. Cassy – Simply Intro
2. Baby Ford – Make Your Own Sunshine (Minimal Man Mix)
3. Trus’me – Good God
4. Anton Zap – Spain
5. Jitterbug – No Pressure (DJ Qu Remix)
6. Kai Alce Feat. Azulu Phantom – Power Thru Pt 3 (Don’t Turn On The Lights)
7. STL – Silent State
8. Danny Howells – September (Future Beat Alliance Remix)
9. Taho – Energy Fields (Quince’s Dubbed Out Reconstruction)
10. Cassy – Magnificant Cat Won’t Do
11. Kassem Mosse – Untitled A1
12. DJ Qu – The Zones
13. Linkwood – R.I.P
14. Inland Knights – Wanna Be Up
15. Kezym – Washing My Heart
16. Pierre Lx – Gabita
17. Ralph Falcon & Alan T/Alex K – Whateva