I remember listening to Radio 1 night time when Nick Grimshaw was doing it in 2011 and he played a lot of Unicorn Kid's songs which I liked at the time.

 

 

Link:

 

 

Link:

 

 

Link:

 

I can't help thinking that as these songs were made in 2011 he was quite a bit ahead of his time. The first song is very tropical house sounding, and the last one is similar to the work of many modern tropical house producers in production. The second one also has sound effects used in a lot of modern tropical future bass too. Sadly he is not producing under the name Unicorn Kid anymore and none of these songs became big hits.

 

 

Massive fan of the remix that was done for Pet Shop Boys in 2009.

 

“Wild Life” was a Top 10 hit on my personal chart in late 2010, and more recently “Need U” - which is surely a modern update/equivalent of “Set You Free” - made #3 in September 2012.

 

Both he and Jamie xx seem to have been on to the 'steel drum' percussive sound of 2015/2016 chart hits much earlier in the decade, just listen to “Far Nearer” for instance (released summer 2011).

 

 

“Wild Life” was a Top 10 hit on my personal chart in late 2010, and more recently “Need U” - which is surely a modern update/equivalent of “Set You Free” - made #3 in September 2012.

 

Both he and Jamie xx seem to have been on to the 'steel drum' percussive sound of 2015/2016 chart hits much earlier in the decade, just listen to “Far Nearer” for instance (released summer 2011).

 

Yes and of course Jamie xx produced 'Take Care' too which was definitely a tropical house song. The original version with Gil Scott-Heron I prefer to the Rihanna and Drake version but both are good.

 

Yes my liking for early tropical house like Take Care and Unicorn Kid is probably why I don't like tropical house now. Because back then it was a fresh sound whereas now it is overused and I am bored of the sound.

 

Also Unicorn Kid's tropical house was faster and more lively than today's.

pure space + need u are still house party essentials tbh 🙌🏼