Lavan Keeps Soul Baby Warm and Loose

Lavan’s Soul Baby EP does not need a complicated premise. It is a deep house record built around warmth, swing, and feeling, with enough jazz influence to keep the music breathing without pulling it away from the floor.

Out bnow as of early October via Ascension on Wax, the four-track release marks the label’s sixth catalog entry and brings Lavan back into the fold as a co-founder.

For listeners already drawn to deeper house records with a musical center, Tyler Stone’s jazz house classics article is a good reference point. Soul Baby sits in that larger conversation, where house music feels as comfortable on a living-room turntable as it does in a late-night DJ set.

“Soul Baby” Sets the Tone

The title track opens the EP with swinging drums, hypnotic chords, and trippy vocal samples. It does not come in heavy-handed. It leans into a deep, subtly psychedelic groove that feels built for smaller rooms, after-hours sets, and the part of the night where the music can loosen up without losing direction.

That restraint is one of the better choices on the record. “Soul Baby” has enough movement for the floor, but it does not push too hard. The drums roll forward, the chords keep circling, and the vocal pieces add color without turning the track into a hook-first record.

The production has a tactile feel too.

The synths do not sound overly polished, and the percussion has enough looseness to keep the track from feeling rigid. It is a straight-up house record in the best sense: no over-explaining, no unnecessary detours, and no attempt to flatten the soul out of the drums.

“Harmonizm” Opens the EP Up

“Harmonizm” moves the release toward Latin jazz influence, pairing rolling Afrobeat-inspired drums with warm synth work and a more outward sense of motion.

It is the track that gives the EP its most immediate lift. The rhythm has a rolling quality that keeps the music active, while the harmonic work keeps it connected to the deeper tone established by the title track.

That balance is important because Latin and Afrobeat-influenced house can slip into surface-level referencing if the percussion is treated as the whole idea. “Harmonizm” avoids that by keeping the drums tied to the rest of the arrangement. The groove, synths, and harmonic movement are all pulling in the same direction.

The result feels warm without becoming sleepy.

There is enough propulsion for DJs, but also enough detail for home listening.

That dual function is one of the EP’s strengths. It understands that deep house can still be social music, private music, and dancefloor music at the same time.

For producers, that is also the harder lesson. The right deep house record is rarely about piling on elements. It is about choosing the few parts that can carry the room together. I wrote about some of those raw materials in my deep house sample pack article, but Soul Baby shows why the source material only matters when the groove has taste behind it.

Ascension on Wax Knows Its Sound

The best thing about Soul Baby EP is that it sounds like a label release, not just a loose collection of tracks. Ascension on Wax has a clear identity here: soulful, deep, jazz-influenced house with enough physicality to work for DJs and enough atmosphere to hold up outside the club.

That identity matters for a label on its sixth release. Early catalog entries set expectations, and Soul Baby makes the Ascension on Wax sound feel more defined. Lavan’s originals bring the warmth and groove. K15’s remix brings another rhythmic dimension. The package feels compact, but complete.

For readers who tend toward deeper and more atmospheric shades of electronic music, my roundup of atmospheric and dub labels sits near the same listening mindset, even if the sound is different. The common thread is patience, tone, and an understanding that space can move a track as much as force.

Soul Baby EP dropped on October 2nd via Ascension on Wax, available on 12-inch and digital formats.