Foreach Dares to 'Push a Key' (More Than One, Actually)

There's nothing like a house classic to get your feet a-tappin’. While - in my humble opinion - there has never been such an abundance of amazing house tracks, there are still those purists who prefer the music of the past, and I can't really blame them. There's certainly a case to be made for the mastery of an old-school producer, back when you had to know your machines front and back just to get a sound out of them.

That's the argument at the core of Push a Key, a groovy new single from Foreach. The track is resolutely modern, exploring deep and minimal textures with a pristine cutting-edge aesthetic. But Push a Key is punctuated by a spoken-word sample that - probably knowingly - puts the duo's music in perspective.

I don't know who's talking (maybe it's someone famous, I'm dumb), but the person in question talks about how anyone who can push a key can make a record today. The man certainly has a point, although I find myself getting defensive when I hear something like that.

It’s hard to fault technology for making music more accessible, more democratic. I bet a lot of producers with great records wouldn’t have had the means to produce a beat a few decades ago. Let alone distribute and promote it worldwide.

In the end, though, the message at the heart of Push a Key isn't so much a critique of the present as it is an homage to the grooves of the past, and I can get behind that. The great tracks of the golden age of house are just as effective today as they were back then, if not more so...

While it's true that audiences "never get tired of hearing a classic", I couldn't imagine an audience getting tired of Foreach's Push a Key anytime soon. Does that mean the single is a new classic?

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Workin EP is out Friday via Misplaced Recordings.