Lovers Dub | 02

Where's My Soul - Baron Rétif & Concepción Perez
Stellar Bit Reason in Slave Su Fruity Loop (instrumental) - Stellar Bit 4
Love You More (Rocc Mix) - J Rocc
Dub Feeling - Dub Shepherds, Pinnacle Sound, The Dirty Makers
Walk On By (Jeremy Sole Reprise) - The Decoders feat. Noelle Scaggs
Sugar And Dub - Kofi
Didn't I (feat. Hollie Cook) - Night Owls
Emotional Dub - Susan Cadogan
Back Together Dub - Jean Adebambo
I Want Your Love (Version) - Brentford Disco Set
Live For Love (Kent Segolson) - Red Astaire
Thinking Of You - Lord Echo

“Where’s My Soul (feat. Vimbai Mukarati)” — Baron Rétif & Concepción Perez
Paris duo's sleeper from their mini-LP L’Indien features Vimbai Mukarati’s yearning vocal in a mid-tempo groove. Finished at Turtle Cuts, with mastering by Shawn Joseph at Optimum in Bristol. The track came after their switch from Musique Large to the Heavenly Sweetness label, a move that sharpened their live/electronic hybrid approach and led to further remixes and collaborations around the French left-field scene. Early singles like “Sierra Leone / Souka Nayo” set the duo’s dub-friendly drum programming in motion, evident in the featured instrumental of “Where’s My Soul”.

“Stellar Bit Reason in Slave Su Fruity Loop Col Gruppo Sotto (instrumental)” — Stellar Bit 4
Italian beatcrafter Stellar Bit 4's uploads appear on SoundCloud accounts and DJ forums, unlabeled beyond the series tag and timestamp. Heavy weight beats and bass line, built around two-minutes for blend interludes, file this with the anonymous wave of European lo-fi beatmakers who record for segues. Stellar Bit 4 is part of a Naples online micro-scene where demo-length instrumentals circulate before formal pressing.

“Love You More (Rocc Mix)” — edaS
A slow-burn edit and white-label favorite that popped up as edaS – Love You More (Rocc Mix), nodding to the Sade-flip underground where editors veil sources and swap WAVs. The “Rocc” tag links this to J Rocc’s Sade remixes, which are some of his most famous touchstones. The track moves like a slow-burn lovers stepper with extra swing and chop.

“Dub Feeling” — Dub Shepherds x Pinnacle Sound x The Dirty Makers
A French cut from Bat Records, with Dr Charty handling mastering. Dub Shepherds steer the rhythm while Pinnacle Sound and The Dirty Makers load it with spring reverb and rim-shot. Issued on the cassette-leaning Tape Me Out series, the crew’s output is all French stepper with vintage echo. The wider Dub Shepherds discography on Bat Records keeps that analog dub sound prominent.

“Walk On By (Jeremy Sole Reprise)” — The Decoders feat. Noelle Scaggs
LA studio collective The Decoders rebuilt the Bacharach standard as a lovers rock torch song, then KCRW’s Jeremy Sole took the stems for a dubbed “Reprise” that spotlights Noelle Scaggs’ lead and lengthens the pocket. It appears on Revisited & Reworked Vol. 2 and in standalone digital releases, part of a run that pivoted the group from mid-century soul reworks to island-centric arrangements with proper players on organ, guitar, and horn.

“Sugar And Dub” — Kofi
Kofi’s lovers-rock bona fides include a long run with Ariwa (Mad Professor), notably the early-’90s Wishing Well era where she toggled between full vocal and dub versions. Her Ariwa sessions helped codify the UK lovers/dub crossover that thrived on Brixton dancefloors of the same period. The players are an Ariwa house-band roll call—Black Steel on guitars and keys, Drumtan Ward on drums and percussion, and Preacher, Victor, and Fitzroy Brown on bass. The cut captures the label’s early-’90s lovers sound.

“Didn’t I (feat. Hollie Cook)” — Night Owls
LA’s Night Owls, a rhythm section spun from The Lions and The Aggrolites, re-imagines Darondo’s soul classic with a sweet-voiced lovers approach. Hollie Cook’s reverbed vocals float above Roger Rivas’ soulful organ. Cut and mixed by super producer Dan Ubick at The Lions Den in Topanga, this arrived as a double A-side 7-inch with “After Laughter,” then rolled into the Versions II compilation, cementing the crew as one of today’s most reliable soul-to-reggae converters.

“Emotional Dub” — Susan Cadogan
Cadogan’s Ariwa period with Mad Professor, including Soulful Reggae, re-introduced her to UK lovers rock fans that already knew her from the Lee “Scratch” Perry-produced hit “Hurt So Good” (a UK Top 5 in 1975). The Japanese CD release featured “Emotional Dub” (a Bee Gees cover) along other bonus tracks. Cadogan’s Ariwa period showed her graceful voice with Professor’s dubs providing expanded space for phrasing.

“Back Together Dub” — Jean Adebambo
London’s lovers-rock royalty, Adebambo’s catalog was later compiled on Remembering Jean Adebambo, enshrining “Back Together” and its dub as scene standards. Her tracks circulated heavily on UK pirate radio and at house parties, the ecosystem that sustained lovers rock throughout the ’80s. Reissues and compilation appearances keep drawing new fans to Adebambo’s essential catalog.

“I Want Your Love (Version)” — Brentford Disco Set
Studio One’s disco-era house band take Chic’s melody to Brentford Road and hand it over to the board. The 12-inch features the vocal take paired with the dub “Version,” a classic Coxsone Dodd flip with drum and bass prominent. It sits alongside Norma White’s beloved cut, part of Soul Jazz’s ongoing excavation of Studio One disco sides from Kingston.

“Live For Love (feat. Kent Segolson)” — Red Astaire
The late Freddie Cruger’s unreleased trove keeps yielding nuggets. Live For Love surfaced on Ear Candy Instrumentals with Kent Segolson credited. Cruger blends hip-hop sensibility with lovers-friendly vibes. The Swedish beatsmith is best known for his Soul Search era on Tru Thoughts and his deep stack of soul-and-reggae-tinted 7-inch sample sources. The 12-inch Follow Me was a bootleg classic that cemented his rep in global soul.

“Thinking Of You” — Lord Echo
Mike “Lord Echo” Fabulous turned Sister Sledge’s 1979 gem into a sun-struck masterwork from his 2010 debut Melodies, with Lisa Tomlins delivering vocals. The cut later spun out with 7-inches on Berlin’s Jakarta Records edit and a Wonderful Noise Japan edition with Thinking Of Dub, traveling far beyond New Zealand crates. Echo’s three-album trilogy (Melodies, Curiosities, Harmonies) covers Afro-boogie to Lovers and Disco, and this classic Sister Sledge cover is the finale-worthy selection.

Listen to: Lovers Dub | 01