Last year, I was deeply smitten by Linton’s “Melatonin” EP and we didn’t have to wait too long for the follow up. On the 29th of December, Linton issued “Always The Last To Dream,” an instrumental remix of that as well, and four days later, an extended remix of “Joy” from his “I Always Come Back” album, called “Joy 2023.” Let’s dig into this three course meal right now, shall we?

Linton’s description of the single on his Bandcamp page for it called it “Tiesto met John Foxx and made a baby.” That’s a biologically fascinating thought, but does it hold water musically? I’ll admit that I had to look up Tiesto. I’m guessing that the slightly acidic loops forming the rhythms were the Tiesto DNA, while the overall vibe of the song perhaps called back to the warmth of Foxx’s “Golden Section” period. Though the two block chord hook actually reminded me of the one in Midge Ure’s “Call Of The Wild!” Giving the song a driving euphoria carried aloft by the, yes, Foxxy choral patches. The middle eight drop was begging for a 12″ remix to use it as the intro buildup DNA, but since we’re talking about Jan Linton here, it was the song’s climactic solo [was it guitar or synth?] that struck the killing blow. Making me await a 12″ remix to get more of that tasty sauce in my musical diet.

The instrumental version was plenty to give home mixers enough goods to make their own 12″ version. It was 18 seconds longer with a haunting coda that followed the climactic swell of synth strings.

“Joy” was my favorite track from Linton’s “I Always Come Back” so it was a delight to get a 7:49 extended remix of this song. In spite of the cover art, this was not a Christmas single. But that didn’t matter. What did matter were the guitar and fretless guitar solos enlivening the stately track. Fans of David Sylvian, Bill Nelson, and especially David Sylvian with Bill Nelson would find much to enjoy in this exceptionally [oh, the irony] dreamy track.

All of these singles are in Linton’s Bandcamp store and you may mix and match, or buy them all as they can be had with pocket change. I liked how the cover designs for the “Always The Last To Dream” singles were of a piece with the artwork for the “Melatonin” cover art with a closeup of half of Linton’s face comprising the layout. It remains to be seen if these last two new singles were part of an upcoming album on drip feed or a stand alone thread from Linton, but what ever is next from him is already on my want list. DJ hit that button!

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