Tonic by North Of The Island

As the familiar rain has returned to his hometown pavements, North Of The Island returns with the perfect remedy, ready to extend the summer indefinitely. The follow up to March’s Earth Positive EP, “Tonic” is a double-drop designed for both the dancefloor and the daydream, Neil Diablo’s Balearic alter ego pouring another round of liquid light.

In its original form, “Tonic” shimmers with digital birdsong, cicadas and swelter, its unhurried woodblocks and chiming keys rolling beneath an undulating bassline. Dreamy guitar courtesy of Thought Leadership channels Steve Hiett at his most sky-kissed, while synth vox drift through the haze, stripping back to a subtle yet sensual dancefloor pulse. This is music for that liminal moment just after sunset, when the heat still clings to the air but the mood tips into something deeper, more serious and more seductive.

Never one to neglect the lilo crowd, NOTI also supplies an ambient version: the pulse removed, but the shimmer preserved. Here the birdsong, guitar and atmosphere breathe freely, perfect for closed-eye contemplation, poolside epiphanies or bathtub escapism. A toast to transition, “Tonic” captures the moment between day and night, motion and stillness, glow and afterglow.

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