Section drops ‘The Fourth Hour’ LP on Counterpoint

Demanding times for Section as an NHS worker during the peak of the COVID pandemic gives birth to ‘The Fourth Hour’ LP. Exploring the contrasts of ‘Light and Dark’, the first-ever artist album on the Portuguese label Counterpoint Recordings is set for release on 8th July 2022.

James “Section” Barclay is a DJ/Producer from Worthing (UK) who has been DJing since 1997 and has been fortunate to perform across the UK, NYC and at the Miami Music Conference. Section began producing in 2006 with his mentor Nathan Solley and has been releasing music with respected labels since 2011. In 2017 he started his own label – Locked Up Music, which has been building up a respected repertoire over the years.

His journey with Counterpoint began in 2017 when his remix of ‘Bassment – Survive’ was included in the label’s first-ever remixes EP. Leveraging that momentum, 2019 saw the release of ’Contagion / Design’, a single which received significant support across the scene.

Over many years of working together, the artist and the label developed an interesting creative dynamic which naturally crescendoed to the decision of producing and releasing an album together. A debut for both sides involved, the project was undergoing development over the last two years and is now set for an exclusive release on Beatport and Spotify on 8th July, reaching all stores 2 weeks later.

“Having worked with James Section Barclay before, we always had a really cool artist/label workflow. He understands that we are very hands-on as a label and that the label catalogue also reflects my personal creative vision. After the last single we did together, I felt an impulse to take this step and propose an album. I’m really glad I acted on that impulse!”

Martim Santos (Label Manager)

Written and produced during challenging times for James, the album expresses the duality of light and dark that he faced daily as an NHS Physiotherapist. Deployed to the Covid ICU at the peak of the pandemic, he was forced to coexist daily with the contrast of profound melancholy and a deep sense of hope.

Most tracks were written during this period, which turned ‘The Fourth Hour’ LP into an escape and tonic to cope with a very personal and emotionally intense period. As the album took shape over time, James invited a number of talented vocalists and producers to feature on the tracklist. Their contribution was essential to making the whole listening experience come together as one of the truest and rawest representations of the Counterpoint sound. Section’s musical approach falls in line with Counterpoint’s vision of privileging a timeless aesthetic and aiming at maximizing each release’s shelf life.

“I wrote this album during one of the darkest times of my life and it enabled me to explore emotions I had not experienced before. Overall I hope the album creates a sense of hope and cohesion in a chaotic world. I would like to thank everyone at Counterpoint and the talented artists who made this project come to life.”

Section

Since finishing production in early 2022, the LP has been gathering selected plays across radio’s like Unity DAB, Life FM, CUIT FM and Kool London, as well as receiving heartful reactions across dancefloors worldwide. Alongside a respected array of confirmed press features the official launch party took place at Hard Club in Porto, Portu-
gal on 28th May and the first single ‘Fly To Me’ (featuring OB1) dropped on 17th June.

Today we premiere ‘Nozomu’ which you can check out below. It drops as a single this Friday 1st July, make sure you grab it from here and look out for the full album dropping on Friday 8th July!