Dexter Wansel The Sweetest Pain

Philadelphia's Dexter Wansel sits deep in the DNA of the city's orchestral soul sound. A producer, arranger and keyboardist tied closely to the Philadelphia International orbit, he had a special knack for balancing jazz-funk flash with that slow-burn soul feeling.'The Sweetest Pain (feat Terri Wells)' leans into that gift, with strings gliding across a steady groove while Wells carries the melody with clear-eyed ease, the arrangement opening patiently around her voice. On the reverse, 'Theme From Planets' heads somewhere stranger as synthesiser leads spiral above clipped drums and bright brass stabs, Wansel letting his cosmic jazz instincts stretch out across the mix.