Ross From Friends - Tread (2LP)

Tread finds Ross From Friends, the guise of London producer Felix Clary Weatherall, settling into a sharper, more elegant version of his sound without losing the heart that won him a devoted crowd in the first place. Released in October 2021 through Brainfeeder, it follows the 2018 debut Family Portrait, and you can hear the step up in confidence. The haze of his early lo-fi house is tidied, the edges crisp, but the pulse still carries that wistful tug that made those first cuts so replayable.

Weatherall talked around this time about building his own studio tool, a little recorder that kicks in when a threshold is hit, so stray ideas are captured before they slip away. You can feel that habit baked into Tread. The tracks often start with a tiny flicker of melody or a dry hi-hat pattern that feels like it was grabbed in the moment, then slowly layered until it blooms into something quietly anthemic. It keeps the album from feeling over-designed. Even at its most detailed, there is the sense of a human hand reaching for the right chord at the right second.

The singles did a neat job of drawing the map. The Daisy shuffles on a 2-step lean, all clipped percussion and a synth line that curls like cigarette smoke in cold air. It is not trying to bowl you over, yet the hook lodges itself anyway. Love Divide is livelier, a little squarer in the kick, with a chopped vocal that flickers in and out like a radio catching reception on a night drive. Both tracks hint at UK garage and broken beat, but nothing is pastiche. Weatherall has a knack for building a scene in your head with just a few sounds, then cutting the bass at the exact moment you want it most.

Tread works best as a front-to-back listen. The sequencing feels considered, with soft-focus interludes and longer builds that earn their payoffs. There are fewer rough edges than on Family Portrait, but the trade-off is a clarity that suits him. Synths sit up front, drums punch cleanly, and the low end is rounded rather than woolly. The Brainfeeder connection matters here. That label has long prized producers who can nudge club music toward something cinematic, and Weatherall fits that spirit. You can imagine these tracks in a late slot at a small room in Hackney, but they read just as well on headphones or on the couch.

Critics picked up on the refinement. Across reviews from places like Pitchfork and The Guardian, the throughline was the sense that he had come into focus, keeping the emotional DNA while trimming the excess reverb and lo-fi crackle. Fans seemed to agree, with The Daisy quickly becoming a set staple and a streaming favourite. What helps is how tactile the record sounds. Tiny details, like detuned pads ghosting behind the main chords or single-note guitar spritz in the margins, keep you leaning in.

On vinyl, this all lands with extra weight. The kick drums have a satisfying thump and the hi-hats sizzle without going brittle, so if you are the sort who files your Ross From Friends albums on vinyl next to Floating Points and Bicep, Tread belongs right there. Crate diggers in a Melbourne record store will know exactly what I mean when I say it is a late-night record, best at that hour when the shop is quiet and the room seems to widen around the speakers. If you are hunting for Ross From Friends vinyl, or thinking about Tread vinyl specifically, it is an easy recommendation. It is also the kind of release you could point to if a friend asked where to start, and it sits neatly alongside his earlier EPs for a little then-and-now compare and contrast.

There is something very British about its restraint, but it is not aloof. The melodies feel lived-in, the chord choices sometimes nostalgic without leaning on obvious sample bait. You could buy Ross From Friends records online from your favourite local, and it will still end up on heavy rotation. For listeners in the market for vinyl records Australia wide, this is one of those 2020s electronic LPs that rewards a proper spin, not just a playlist skim. Tread might not shout, but it lingers. It is the sound of a producer who has found his stride and is happy to let the music walk at its own pace.