There's something quietly assured about how Heimyl operates. The Lyon DJ and producer who also records as Lazer Man and is active in the city's undergroove-adjacent scene doesn't chase a trend so much as burrow into a groove and wait. On his Locked-In Amsterdam debut that patience pays off across four tracks built for systems and slow-burn dancefloors.

"I Want Speak" opens things with a skippy lock-groove rhythm and a fragmented vocal chop that loops with the feeling of a conversation you can't quite follow like overhearing something important through a club wall. Classic bait. "Power Cat" follows with bell-like melodic fragments drifting in and out of a groovy rolling bassline that keeps the floor moving while the playful synth touches stay light-handed and almost reluctant which is precisely what makes them land.

The flip is where the record earns its weight. "Sector 14" is the EP's centrepiece with swelling pads rising gradually over a locked groove building slow pressure that's felt before it's noticed. The kind of B1 that makes a 12" worth hunting down. Closer "New Place" shifts register gracefully into a looser cooler house sensibility, a natural exhale after the tension of the preceding three and a hint that Heimyl has a broader palette than the A side reveals.

For Locked-In now thirteen releases deep into their vinyl story this is another careful choice. Underground, honest, no fuss. Welcome to the family.

12" vinyl. Limited pressing. Mastered by TB. Cat: LKDNV13.