Following a string of standout releases, Welsh producer Jody Barr continues to refine a sound that is finding favour with a wide array of artists.
His latest release, Mera, arrives as another confident step forward, a record that understands the enduring power of progressive house and the rich history it is steeped in.
Built around driving low-end pressure, luminous melodies and a carefully controlled sense of tension, Mera achieves that elusive balance many strive for but rarely attain: combining club functionality with genuine emotional weight.
It is an approach that continues to resonate across the global scene, with the EP earning support from the likes of Hernán Cattáneo, Nick Warren, Sasha and many more.
To better understand the foundations behind that approach, we asked Jody to select three formative tracks that helped shape this musical identity.
As he explains, the records that stay with you longest are rarely just technical inspirations: they reshape your understanding of how dance music can feel.
Sasha
Xpander
1999
Given my affiliation to Sasha, this may seem an obvious one to many. But it simply doesn’t age.
The build, synth layers and that groove still sounds fresh and huge even decades later. Balancing melodic elements with club energy in the drums can be difficult but this record encapsulates it perfectly.
For me, this will always be a go to record to lift my mood and one that has certainly inspired not only my sound but influenced me to get into electronic music.
You can drop this tune amongst modern music in a set and it still holds up on a big system.
A solid 10/10 record for me.
James Holden
Common Land
2023
This one by James is actually a more recent record but this is more than worth a mention.
Not focussing on functional club music, I could be having a bad day and pressing play on this record transports me to another world.
I’m obsessed with the psychedelic and pulsating modular textures and synths that drift in and out then in comes this statement distorted saxophone. Makes the hairs stand up.
It’s truly an immersive and transcendent record.|
Leftfield
Melt
1995
For me, a phenomenal record off a seminal album. As the song title suggests, the synth textures liquefy into each other rather than sit in distinct layers.
It creates this intimacy every time you listen to it. I find myself coming back to this record regularly.
Nocturnal electronic music at its best and built for telling a story over being a fast food record for entertainment.
