THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE — Gom Jabbar

The Mountain People – Gom Jabbar The Mountain People return with Gom Jabbar, a four-track 12-inch on My King Is Light, catalogued as MKIL15. The release marks the duo’s first full EP outside their own Mountain People imprint and places their distinctive minimal-house vocabulary in the context of Thomas Melchior’s label. Built around heavy sub-bass, vintage synthesizer tones, shuffled percussion and vocal elements, the record explores a darker and more atmospheric side of underground house music. The Mountain People are the Swiss duo André Schmid, also known as Rozzo, and Philippe Egger, also known as Serafin. Their catalogue has long been associated with stripped-back house and minimal music, with a strong emphasis on groove, repetition and subtle rhythmic movement. Gom Jabbar extends that approach while introducing a more psychedelic and atmospheric palette. The title track, Gom Jabbar, establishes the EP’s central character immediately. The production is driven by a weighty sub-bass foundation, shuffled drums and vintage-sounding synth stabs, while vocal material adds another layer to the track’s hypnotic atmosphere. The groove remains economical, allowing the bass and percussion to carry the arrangement rather than relying on conventional melodic development. Specialist retailers describe both versions of the title track as featuring vocals. Prana Bindu takes the same rhythmic language into a deeper and more spacious environment. The track continues the combination of rolling percussion and substantial low-end presence while allowing the electronic textures to become more prominent. Its atmosphere is distinctly psychedelic without abandoning the functional structure of a minimal-house record. The B-side opens with We Shall Know How, another reduced and groove-focused production. The track develops through subtle changes in percussion, bass movement and electronic texture rather than large structural shifts. This restraint is central to The Mountain People’s sound: individual elements remain exposed, allowing small changes in rhythm and timbre to have a noticeable effect on the overall groove. Gom Jabbar (Bottomless Mix) closes the record by taking the title track into a more stripped and spacious direction. The alternate version emphasises the low-end architecture and rhythmic framework of the original, giving DJs another way to approach the track within a longer set. The contrast between the original and Bottomless Mix also provides the EP with a clear functional dimension. Across all four tracks, Gom Jabbar occupies the space between deep house, minimal house and tech house. The productions are built less around obvious hooks than around physical groove, sub-bass pressure and gradual changes in texture. The result is music designed for sustained listening and mixing rather than immediate impact. The release also represents an important point in The Mountain People’s catalogue. Until Gom Jabbar, the duo’s releases had primarily appeared through their own Mountain People imprint. My King Is Light, the label headed by Thomas Melchior, provides a natural home for this particular direction: both catalogues share an interest in minimal electronic music where rhythmic detail and unusual sonic textures take precedence over conventional song structures. The imagery surrounding Gom Jabbar reinforces the record’s otherworldly character. The label describes the music in terms of “desert planet house”, with sand-shattering sub-basses, vintage stabs, wobbling chords and chanting. While the description is intentionally evocative, it accurately reflects the record’s combination of deep low frequencies, analogue-toned synthesis and hypnotic vocal elements. For DJs, MKIL15 is a focused four-track tool. Gom Jabbar provides the most immediate entry point, Prana Bindu moves deeper into the record’s atmospheric side, We Shall Know How maintains the stripped-back rhythmic approach, and the Bottomless Mix offers an alternative version of the title track for extended mixing. The Mountain People – Gom Jabbar is ultimately a concise statement of deep, psychedelic minimal house. It retains the duo’s established focus on groove while expanding their palette through heavier sub-bass, vintage electronics, vocal textures and a more cinematic atmosphere. As MKIL15, it also introduces their sound to the My King Is Light catalogue without compromising the understated, underground character that has defined The Mountain People’s work.