Buried Notes Lands on Celestial With the Hypnotic 'The Shadow'
- Tony Allen
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
There’s something about ‘The Shadow’ that feels instantly familiar, but not in a way that leans lazy or nostalgic for the sake of it. Buried Notes, aka Jason Kallis, taps into a kind of emotive, deep house energy that sits somewhere between late-night introspection and early-evening warmth. It’s his first outing on Celestial Recordings, the label steered by Steve Kelley (known for his work with Poker Flat and Sublease), and it’s a perfect fit.
From the jump, ‘The Shadow’ invites you in with rolling basslines that keep things grounded while everything else floats above it. The groove is tight but never rigid – there’s air between the elements. Warm synths ebb and flow, drenched in reverb and subtle saturation. And those chords – dusty, sun-bleached, full of feeling – sit in that sweet spot between classic deep house and something more personal.
It’s not hard to draw the line back to the ’90s – there are hints of that era’s soulful touch and club-ready structure – but this isn’t some throwback exercise. Kallis uses the past more like a toolkit, pulling sounds and moods that work in today’s context. ‘The Shadow’ could land just as easily in a hazy backroom set as it could during a golden hour warm-up.
What makes this one stick is the attention to detail. Everything sounds lived-in. The loops don’t loop too cleanly. There are little imperfections in the swing, the way the vocal samples creep in and out of focus, the way the melody unfolds slowly without ever feeling forced. It’s music that trusts you to take your time with it.
With six releases already under his belt on Street Tracks – the Waze & Odyssey-run label – Buried Notes has built a sound that’s soulful without being sentimental. ‘The Shadow’ continues that thread, showing that you don’t need to go big to leave a mark. You just need to go deep.
Buried Notes
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