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Wareika are 3 German guys called Henrik Raabe, Florian Schirmacher and Jakob Seidensticker. They have been making ripples in the house pond for the last two years, with solid endorsement-in the way of fantastic remixes- from Reboot and even Villalobos, who I would argue Wareika take more than their fair share of influence from. This is in no way a bad thing. So their first album is due out in two weeks, and I have been pretty excited about hearing how they can stretch their own tough but soulful diatribe across a long player. If you haven't guessed, I am all over their debut; it is worryingly good.

The whole album works as a constructed narrative. And it really kicks. There are few people in house that can so seamlessly narrate the emotive planes this album reaches whilst fleshing out its authentic musicality with some real bite. There is pressure and urgency laced throughout the album, interspersed with anthemic falls, conducted so effortlessly through pure house technique. But not technique as a replacement of any substance like, say, all house artists bar six do. Not in the way that if you overproduce something enough it will cover up the fact that it has simply been done before. This is something else.

When it's at it's best, and I have really given this album a lot of listens to be sure, it surpasses even the grand purveyors of the house new wave. Johnny D and SIS I'm sure will be looking over their shoulders when it comes to their time to craft an album after hearing this. When Wareika wish, they suck you into the low end for some serious nod, a la Riders On The Storm- which, mind-blowingly, doesn't come across as feeble obvious reference of old- more so a genuine revival of a great track I only wish I hadn't heard before. But then as soon as you feel that your ears are lost forever, they pull the reigns back and throw you into the static. Your ears are reopened to reveal cascades of drunk, late hour piano chords falling about you (Prelude). And then once again, the album takes you back into its arms and bobs you along a slow tempo finisher, only to end up with yet another arresting climax. It ends exactly where it needs to, the vocals are placed where they are strictly necessary, but it feels so loose in its own scripted way that you couldn't imagine these guys actually sitting behind a computer at any point during the production of this.

In as fewer words as I can use to sum this album up, while it's influences are obvious, Formation makes no effort to cover its tracks. Wareika invite you to enjoy them all, as they themselves do, and in doing so have encased a vitality that can string you around by your ear whenever they wish. But Wareika, being the sensitive souls they are, gently take you along the platform these tracks exist on, and in doing so create an album that I hope will be a catalyst for the reinvigoration of house music in album format.

Artist: Wareika Title: Formation Label: Tartelet Tracklist 01. Men Village (Live Version) 02. Ascending Descending 03. Barracuda 04. One Nation (Album Version) 05. Facing The Sun 06. Riders On The Storm 07. Burnin' 08. Prelude 09. Belongin      www.tartelet-records.com      www.myspace.com/hellowareika Our Rating: 8,5/10