If you are a deep, progressive, melodic house lover, then you know that today is a special day in our scene. Silk Music has presented us with “Only Silk 05”, the fifth edition in their near-annual compilation series, inspired by the radio show and podcast of the same name.
A two-part compilation of 31 brand new deep house, progressive, and downtempo cuts, written by a variety of celebrated international artists, “Only Silk 05” is fighting for a spot at the album of the year table with this powerful journey through music. “Only Silk 05” begins with the deep and atmospheric selections of Max Flyant and culminates with the peak-hour favorites of Vintage & Morelli, who joins the Only Silk series for the first time, in Shingo Nakamura's stead.
I got the chance to speak for a little bit with both Max and Marko (Vintage & Morelli) about “Only Silk 05”, Silk Music and what this compilation means to them and the label.
It's been over 2 years since Only Silk 04, how do you think the sound of Silk Music has progressed since then?
Max Flyant – Good question, thanks! There has been a shift in the overall sound focus at Silk Music since then: back in 2016, we used to release trance and progressive house more frequently, while deep house and chillout singles and EPs were slightly less regular ones. In 2018, we started shifting away from modern trance, simply because we no longer felt inspired enough with the repetitive themes, drops and climaxes in almost all of the new demos we have been receiving. Of course, there's still space trance music on Silk Music, but each track that we actually sign should really stand out, capture us by its theme, energy and fresh idea. (Melodic) progressive house remains strong, being the core of our imprint since the very beginning and also due to the fact that we find the genre constantly evolving (in a positive way). Deep house became one of the main focuses for us in case of genre orientation of the label since 2017, and we work hard to discover and sign more music of this kind going forward. Chillout, ambient and downtempo music receives fewer spots in our release schedule these days, but only due to the fact that we've been receiving much fewer demos lately, though, we've released a stellar chillout album by Allay earlier this year to praise the beloved genre.
There are some big tunes on your side of the Only Silk 05. Could you give me some insight behind a few of the tunes, and why you chose them?
Max Flyant – A.M.R's “Silver Lining” captured our hearts instantly, with no chance to resist. This fragile, incredibly emotional an beautiful deep house track became a no-brainer intro for the whole compilation.
Both Jay FM's tracks fit in my mix just perfectly which was an expected result after another incredibly fruitful year for this talented electronic veteran from Ireland.
There are a lot of tracks by my Russian countryman Sound Quelle, premiered on OS05. This is also a result of his incredible productivity lately along with amazing inspiration and emotions that his music illuminates.
Marsh's remix was a last-minute surprise for me: he wanted to work specifically on one of the classics from our catalog: Harold-Alexis – “The Ocean's Feedback“. We didn't have remix parts on our hands so I emailed Harold hoping he still had that old project available to extract the stems from it. We were lucky enough to get the pack quite fast and Marsh started to remix… and then disappeared for a while. I was already getting prepared for the mixing session when he arrived with this fantastic remix… and the rest is history!
Finally, PROFF, another Russian progressive house star delivered some solid, heavy productions perfectly sitting towards the end of my mix and of course Kobana, our veteran from Poland, came out of nowhere after 5-year hiatus to show me a track which has completely blown my mind with its uniqueness and closed my part of “Only Silk 05” compilation the best way possible.
This is the 1st time that you are doing an Only Silk album. As one of the major highlights of Silk Music, this album is a huge deal. How did you feel when you were chosen to be a part of Only Silk 05?
V&M – It is a huge honor and privilege to be able to take over the compilation that has become the pinnacle of the powerhouse that is Silk Music. Silk has been my home label since 2012, and I couldn't have asked for a better, warmer family. I was a bit surprised to
be asked, to be honest, and was a bit overwhelmed at first, but the excitement of compiling music for something this big made it real easy.
I see new Vintage & Morelli music on your side of Only Silk 05! Are these tunes going to be on the upcoming album, and how did you decide which of your new tunes you wanted to put on Only Silk 05?
V&M – When it comes to Silk Music, it's always easy. One of the songs, “Cozy Life,” will definitely be a part of my second artist album. It has been a bit of a challenge as I'm trying to tell a specific story with the album, so I had to go through a lot of finished and unfinished music to get it just right. I'm happy how everything turned out. Looking forward to the release of OS05 and my next solo album release next year!
Conclusion
In my opinion, “Only Silk 05” is the best Only Silk compilation yet and that is saying a lot with the quality of these compilations. Buy, stream, or download “Only Silk 05” below, and make sure you listen to it from start to finish – you will NOT be disappointed.
Buy, Stream, Download ‘Only Silk 05'