SHAWN WARD — Forward Motions EP

Shawn Ward’s Forward Motions EP returns to vinyl through Flat & Round as FAR04, bringing a sought-after deep house release back into circulation for DJs and collectors. Originally difficult to find on wax, the record’s 2026 edition presents three tracks — “Back To The Future”, “Holiday” and “Night Vibes” — built around the qualities that have defined Ward’s production for more than two decades: warmth, musicality, understated sophistication and a deep understanding of groove. The 12-inch is scheduled for September 2026. Shawn Ward has developed a distinctive place within underground house through a production style that avoids unnecessary excess. His music is rooted in the deeper and more soulful side of house, where the character of the groove, harmonic movement and texture matters as much as the immediate impact of the beat. Forward Motions EP reflects that philosophy across three carefully balanced cuts, moving between deep house, jazzy house and soulful house while maintaining a consistent sense of space and musical restraint. Specialist retailers classify the release within House, Deep House and Jazzy House. “Back To The Future” occupies the full A-side and establishes the EP’s central aesthetic. The title suggests a relationship with classic house history, but the track is presented as a contemporary deep house record rather than a straightforward retro exercise. A warm, rolling groove provides the foundation, with the arrangement allowing the rhythmic and melodic details to develop without overcrowding the mix. The production’s appeal lies in its balance: the beat remains functional enough for a DJ set, while the musical elements give the track enough character for focused listening. The groove is deliberately understated. Rather than relying on dramatic breakdowns or exaggerated drops, “Back To The Future” works through gradual movement and repetition, the defining qualities of a deep house record designed to become part of a set rather than dominate it. Its musical sophistication makes it particularly suited to opening and mid-set situations where atmosphere and continuity are more important than peak-time impact. The B-side begins with “Holiday”, shifting the record toward a more relaxed and soulful dimension. The track maintains Ward’s emphasis on warmth and groove while introducing a lighter, more spacious feeling. Its harmonic character and rhythmic flow give the piece a distinctly jazzy-house sensibility, allowing the production to breathe rather than locking into a rigid club structure. “Holiday” demonstrates why Ward’s music works particularly well on vinyl. There is a sense of physical movement in the groove, but the track is never reduced to percussion alone. The musical components interact naturally, producing a sound that can sit comfortably between deep house, soulful house and the more sophisticated side of jazz-influenced club music. It is the kind of track that rewards long blends, where subtle changes in texture can be allowed to develop over several minutes. “Night Vibes” completes the release with another variation on the same fundamental language. The title captures its function within the EP: a late-night house track built around atmosphere, warmth and controlled rhythmic momentum. Rather than dramatically increasing the energy, the final cut deepens the mood, making it particularly useful for the later stages of a house set or for transitions toward more soulful and introspective material. The three tracks form a coherent sequence. “Back To The Future” establishes the deep house foundation, “Holiday” opens the sound toward jazzier and more soulful territory, and “Night Vibes” closes with a nocturnal, groove-led mood. None of the tracks feels disconnected from the others; instead, the EP demonstrates how a relatively restrained production vocabulary can produce three different shades of underground house. The return of Forward Motions is especially relevant for collectors because the release has become increasingly difficult to source in its original form. Flat & Round’s FAR04 pressing gives the EP another physical life, making it available to a new generation of listeners while providing longtime followers with an opportunity to replace worn copies. Multiple specialist retailers describe the 2026 edition specifically as a long-awaited repress and note the scarcity of the original copies. For DJs, the record’s greatest strength is versatility. “Back To The Future” can sit comfortably within a deep house set built around warm, rolling grooves; “Holiday” can introduce a more soulful or jazzy colour; and “Night Vibes” offers a natural late-evening option when the emphasis shifts toward atmosphere and hypnotic continuity. The three tracks also lend themselves to extended transitions, making the EP useful for selectors who prefer to construct sets through gradual changes rather than abrupt stylistic shifts. The record’s 12-inch format reinforces that DJ-oriented character. FAR04 is issued by Flat & Round as a 12-inch House release, with the 2026 edition scheduled for September 18. The current specialist listings consistently identify the catalogue number as FAR04 and the three-track sequence as “Back To The Future”, “Holiday” and “Night Vibes”. For collectors of Deep House vinyl, Forward Motions EP represents a particularly appealing intersection between contemporary availability and established underground house culture. It is not dependent on fashionable production tricks or short-lived stylistic trends. Instead, its value comes from the durability of the music itself: warm grooves, understated arrangements, soulful musicality and a production style that remains useful in a DJ context years after its original appearance. Shawn Ward – Forward Motions EP is therefore best understood as a refined deep house record built around longevity. FAR04 brings together three tracks that share a common sense of warmth and restraint while offering different shades of groove, from the deep and rolling “Back To The Future” to the more soulful “Holiday” and the late-night atmosphere of “Night Vibes”. For DJs searching for sophisticated house tools and collectors looking for a difficult-to-find Shawn Ward record on vinyl, this Flat & Round repress offers a timely return to a quietly influential corner of underground house music.