Earlier this year, producer Different Sleep made a splash with his Last Nerve EP, which possesses just the right amount of contemporary dance elements and electronic experimentation. Keeping up with that accomplished vibe is new track 'First To Say' featuring the lush R&B vocals of Vanessa Elisha. As the SoundCloud description straightforwardly put it, “got up with vanessa elisha to make this one when she came out to visit the west coast from australia.” A trip that’s reflected in the impassioned vocals, “‘cause I’ll be on the West Coast, you’ll be far away,” suggesting that this track is partly about escape, partly about missing someone, possibly a confusing mix of both. Vanessa Elisha’s mellifluous notes mesh perfectly with Rafa Alvarez’s artfully-arranged beats, the highlight of which has to be the authentic-sounding garage bridges. 'First To Say' is a track that teases, constantly building up to the possibility of a crescendo or a drop or even silence, but Different Sleep isn’t a predictable guy: he instead opts for a new style, something fresh and subtly romantic. - HT