One day early in the global lockdown, Frédéric Blais scribbled four words on a Post-It note and pinned it up in his studio. When he headed to a studio in the mountains north of Montreal to start work on his fifth album as Fred Everything, those words went with him. They would not only provide inspiration during two weeks of isolated music-making, but ultimately provide the subsequent album with its title: Love, Care, Kindness and Hope.

Those sentiments – a positive mantra during a period of personal and collective vulnerability and isolation – resonate throughout the album, a gorgeously warm and beautiful affair that counts as Blais’s most personal, musically expansive, mature and sonically detailed set to date.

While each of the tracks began as a rough sketch laid down during Blais’ retreat, they evolved considerably over the months that followed. Blais reached out to a handful of carefully selected guest vocalists and collaborators, including Stereo MC’s, Robert Owens, Sapele, James Alexander Bright, Wayne Tennant, string arranger Pete Whitfield and multi-instrumentalist Finn Peters. He also lent his voice to several tracks, a first in a career that stretches back to the 1990s.

The results are magical, with Blais not only offering subtle variations on his own trademark deep house sound, but also nods to complimentary music styles and classic electronic albums from the late ‘90s and early 2000s.

Naturally, much focus will fall on the album’s high-profile guests, whose contributions work perfectly with Blais’ cultured dancefloor electronica and soul-soaked broken house grooves. Robert Owens – “the voice of house” himself – expertly delivers lyrics full of compassion and reassurance on recent single ‘Never’, Sapele infuses ‘A Long Time Coming’ with lashings of soulful spirituality, and UK hip-hop/soul legends Stereo MC’s make their presence felt on the subtly Latin-infused dub house excellence of ‘Soul Love’.

Then there’s ‘Breathe’, where UK singer-songwriter James Alexander Bright and backing vocalist Wayne Tennant rise above punchy broken house beats, Blais’ trademark square-wave bass and Pete Whitfield’s swelling strings on ‘Breathe’. By the time kaleidoscopic, sun-down breakbeat brilliance of ‘A Good Day’ arrives to draw proceedings to a close, you’ll be overflowing with Blais’ “love, care, kindness and hope” – just as he intended. More

It’s always refreshing to hear new music from Tom Szirtes aka Shur-I-Kan. He’s been one of our most consistent ally since the early days of the label and continues to deliver quality and quantity. The title song is uplifting and hopeful, something we can all use these days. Great piano hook, live bass by Nick Cohen, live percussions by Danny Ward (aka Moodymanc) and strings by Pete Whitfield. All of that over Tom’s signature beats.The Reprise breaks things down in the first section, concentrating on the instruments and bringing in the drums in the second half.

Bubblin’ Up is yet another classic Shur-I-Kan moment, taking things into a darker and tougher territory. One for those peak times club moments as far as we can remember!

Shut This Down showcases the versatility of Tom’s repertoire. A Broken Beat number featuring vocals by Anna Stubbs and rightfully dedicated to the memory of Phil Asher. More

After spending some time on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, Fred wrote his 2018 album Long Way Home. Barbarella was one of the songs on the album. It was inspired by a morning set he did at Barbarellas, the infamous outdoor venue in Tisno. The kitsch disco vibes are also a wink to the cult B-movie of the same name. But it was the 7am in Tisno mix, featured on the alternate version of the album No Way Home that made the song popular.

While there was no plan to release it as a single, Fred had the idea to contact I:Cube, one of his all-time favourite producers, to see If he would be interested in remixing it. The process took a little while but thanks to confinement, with more available time in the studio, the I:Cube Parisian Sleeze Version was born. Taking only a few elements from the original, he completely rearranged the track into a modern disco classic as only the Cube can do. This is one of those cuts that gets better every time you hear it.

On the B-side, Fred’s Slow Down 2021 Version expands on the Balearic vibe at a slower tempo. Sounding a little bit like Sade on acid, with added samples from the 1968 Jane Fonda movie. More

2 Years ago, we celebrated our 10 years with 5 anniversary EPs entitled 10 by Ten, where we asked 10 of our favorite artists to write an exclusive track for the occasion. Two of the stand out tracks were Martin Iveson - aka Atjazz - Leave Me Here as well as Art Of Tones, Koniokola, which we thought deserved a second life. Freerange and Delusions of Grandeur boss, Jimpster, blesses us with his deep yet driving rendition of Leave Me Here, while Fred Everything chooses to update Koniokola with a more dance floor approach and a strip down Dub. We also included the Original of Leave Me Here which was never available on Vinyl.
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We are proud to present you Art Of Tones's first EP for Lazy Days. AOT is the brainchild of Ludovic Llorca's, formerly known for his work as Llorca on F-Communications. As Art Of Tones, he released music on labels like 20:20 Vision and Room With A View while remixing countless artists like his great rework of Tortured Soul "You Found A Way" for our 5 Years of Lazy Days Album. This 4 track EP starts with the beautiful "Elephants", a very unique and musical dance floor treat. "Myself, My Body" goes a little darker with this gospel heavy track. Lastly, The Right Moment, brings down the tempo into a 70s influenced funk number. Also available on the digital release is the Dub of the title track "Elephants". Llorca is an old friend of the label and we're happy to have him as a part of the family.

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Lazy Days is proud to welcome back Shur-I-Kan after his landmark 2009 release on the label, "Simply Yes". This time, the Dark Matter Label boss and Freerange artist brings us an original 3 track EP, no featuring, no remixes needed. It was love at first sight when we first heard the EP. And we are glad to be able to share it with you. First we have Staying In, which has been a secret tool in Fred's set since he got it. In fact, It was the highlight during his set at the Outside Lands festival in SF. Not your typical SIK track, something a little more funky and grittier. The title track Life Live is a gorgeous deep house number, in pure Shur-I-Kan tradition. You can really hear Tom's amazing keyboard skills and great musical legacy. Lastly, we have One10, a slower track with a Balearic feel to round up what we think is one of the best record we heard so far this year.

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Back with a Bang, our old friend Lance DeSardi goes back to his early Deep House roots to bring us Expressions EP. The Bang The Box label boss (with partner Brett Johnson) is known for his classic deep house sound, deeply rooted in proper American House. Releases on Seasons, Classic & Om to name but a few. He's also collaborated with JT Donaldson (as Undercover Agency) & Fred Everything to name but a few. A short escapade in his Live experience under the Land Shark disguise and Mr DeSardi is back,ready to show us how it's done with an EP that borrows from the past, present and future. Lazy Days is proud to welcome Lance to our growing family. We hope you enjoy the music. Thanks for the continuous support!

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For the fifth anniversary of Lazy Days Recordings, Fred Everything enlists 4 highly prestigious artists to remix tracks from the diverse catalogue the label has built up. This sampler, which comes ahead of a mix CD in April, sees Fred Everything, JT Donaldson, 20for7, Lovebirds and Tortured Soul get brand new and exclusive reworks by some of Fred Everything's favourite and most respected artists - Ian Pooley, Crazy P, Greg Wilson and Art Of Tones. There are 8 mixes in total featuring bonus dubs and instrumental versions. The sampler will be available on special edition 12" and 10" vinyl and digital download. 'Five Years Of Lazy Days', mixed by Fred Everything, will be released in April in both mixed and unmixed formats, as a CD and digital download.

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For the fifth anniversary of Lazy Days Recordings, Fred Everything enlists 4 highly prestigious artists to remix tracks from the diverse catalogue the label has built up. This sampler, which comes ahead of a mix CD in April, sees Fred Everything, JT Donaldson, 20for7, Lovebirds and Tortured Soul get brand new and exclusive reworks by some of Fred Everything's favourite and most respected artists - Ian Pooley, Crazy P, Greg Wilson and Art Of Tones. There are 8 mixes in total featuring bonus dubs and instrumental versions. The sampler will be available on special edition 12" and 10" vinyl and digital download. 'Five Years Of Lazy Days', mixed by Fred Everything, will be released in April in both mixed and unmixed formats, as a CD and digital download.

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For the fifth anniversary of Lazy Days Recordings, Fred Everything enlists 4 highly prestigious artists to remix tracks from the diverse catalogue the label has built up. This sampler, which comes ahead of a mix CD in April, sees Fred Everything, JT Donaldson, 20for7, Lovebirds and Tortured Soul get brand new and exclusive reworks by some of Fred Everything's favourite and most respected artists - Ian Pooley, Crazy P, Greg Wilson and Art Of Tones. There are 8 mixes in total featuring bonus dubs and instrumental versions. The sampler will be available on special edition 12" and 10" vinyl and digital download. 'Five Years Of Lazy Days', mixed by Fred Everything, will be released in April in both mixed and unmixed formats, as a CD and digital download.

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