Following up from his masterful album No Disco Future, Thomas Melchior returns to Cadenza with a new single that continues to push gently outward against the boundaries of house music.

Thomas is no singer, but he's always had a knack for humanizing his music with quietly compelling vocal samples-hiccups, nonsense syllables, single words, even entire phrases-that alternately bring a blush to the skin or set you adrift on a sea of unease.

Now, on 'Who Can Find Me (I Can't)' he continues the tradition with a lilting female voice that alternates between wordless phrases and the open-ended question, 'Who can find me?' On paper the title might look depressed, even desperate - but that's far from the case.

The chords may be (mainly) minor key, and the synthesizers unusually delicate, but if anything distinguishes the song it's a profound sense of freedom. As always, repetition plays a key role here, as Thomas layers spindly arpeggios and quiet, bouncing chords; his drums are unusually restrained this time out, with just enough bite to keep them pushing forward. The voice drifts in and out as innocuously as clouds on a summer day. It's as hypnotic as love itself.

On the flipside, 'Choir' returns to the supple African and Latin rhythms that distinguished Thomas' Collaboration with Luciano, 'Father'/'Solomon's Prayer' (Cadenza 11). Rolling hand drums and rat-a-tat wood blocks square off against Thomas' trademark drum programming, a limber house pattern with swing to spare. Distant birdcalls promise to bring a ray of light to the darkest club, while sampled choirs punctuate the music with jubilant outbursts. Careful listeners will note that the song's pivotal chord runs just out of phase with the beat, cycling round and round and lending a deliciously woozy feel to the tune's liquid momentum.