Handbook is a British producer form York who has been releasing music for over ten years now. In that time, he’s worked with labels like Cascade, Hip Dozer, and Loci, just to name a few. We heard from him just this past April, when he released an EP called A Small Reminder To Be. Now he’s teamed up with Cascade again to release another EP, Desires.

There are so many downtempo instrumental releases out there these days, with so many of them sounding generic and forgettable, it can feel refreshing to come across an EP like Desires, which will just immediately remind you of how good the genre can be when it is in the right hands. Handbook isn’t reinventing the genre or bending it in some weird direction, he’s just taking the time to do things really well and paying attention to the subtleties that add up to a really enjoyable EP. So yes, this project is about laid back, warm, jazzy hip hop vibes, but Handbook is finding room to switch up the rhythmic patterns and laying down some bass lines that will instinctively get your head bobbing. He’s also taking the time to really flesh out the arrangements, and he’s laying down melodic hooks that will stay with you long after the EP is over. It sounds simple enough on paper, but when someone like Handbook comes along and really puts in the work to make this EP standout, then you can really appreciate the chilled out vibes and escape from the world for a minute when you listen to Desires.

Desires is what happens when a veteran producer like Handbook just sticks to what he does best and just gives you the best version of it. As a result, you get an EP with downtempo songs that just invite you into the groove and take you away to some summer bliss.