On March 16, xxxy will release Last Dance, the second in a trilogy of EPs for Rinse FM.

Following last year’s 18 Hours, it sees the Berlin-based UKer continue to establish himself as one of the most authoritative house producers around. Even when his music’s at its most basic, there’s a class to it that always shines through – whether that’s through a bassline with just the right amount of grit, or that moment where you realise that a seven minute track just went by like it was two. Ahead of Last Dance‘s release, we’re premiering its title track with a brief catch-up.

Pre-order Last Dance here, and catch xxxy playing for LWE presents Mixed on March 28. For tickets and more info, head here.

You were living in London for a while, but you’re in Berlin now. Is that because you realised it’s secretly shit?

Nah, I think London is a great place, it had just become too hectic for me and I felt like a change. It’s pretty clichéd a DJ moving to Berlin but it’s a great place to live.

Did you take all the kit from your Against the Clock session, or did you flog it?

I still have all the stuff from my studio and some more, it was all shipped over in a van with my belongings and boxes and boxes of records that all had to be carried up four flights of stairs.

What city do the pets prefer?

The cat prefers London for sure, he was able to go out for about 12 hours and then sleep for 12 hours each day. Now he is inside 24/7 and gets chased around by a puppy. The dog has only lived in Berlin, but it’s a much dog friendlier place.

The new EP feels pretty summery, is that the vibe you were going for?

Some of it was written last summer in London, so I guess that rubbed off on me, but ‘Close the Door Behind You’ was written in the depths of a mild but very grey Berlin winter.

It’s part of a trilogy of EPs – do they interact or relate to each other conceptually at all, or is it as simple as putting out three banging records?

They all exist separately from each other, with the tracks on each EP sounding texturally quite similar in my opinion. So each EP shows a different side to me.

What stuff has been inspiring you most lately? ‘Goldfish’ had that deep tech / Mark Radford / Lance Morgan type vibe – have you been checking that stuff at all?

I’ve been listening to a lot of Hodge, Kowton and Workshop EPs, the new Bjork album and the Sebastian Mullaert & Eitan Reiter album on Mule Musiq. I hadn’t made the connection with ‘Goldfish’ and deep tech but now I can definitely see it. I have been checking out a little bit, mainly the Mark Radford mixes.

What else do you have on the go, other than this Rinse EP?

Got a whole bunch of tracks that I have finished which I need to finalise into EPs and sign off on and there are few remixes which should be popping up soon.