Even if you've never heard the name of musician Steve "Afterlife" Miller before, there's still a good chance you may have a track by him in your iTunes. When you appear on over 500 compilations released worldwide and have them played in the best beach bars and hotels all over the globe, it will tend to create that kind of effect. He's since become just as synonymous with true tastemakers as he has with the Summer season itself and it's fitting that his fourth album proper, "Electrosensitive," was released recently in the peak of July.

"This album is a snapshot of the last four years of my life," Steve shared. "But I'd sum it up by saying that it has better songs, better production and more variety than ever!"

The Afterlife sound is so much more than that. It's decidedly downtempo music but always funky and crosses as many genres as possible in the process. Sadly, much like Cantoma and Ben Mynott, he gets pigeon-holed in an industry hungry for genre labels, so his productions will often get clumped into the dreaded generic "chillout" category.

"I get bored being confined to any genre which is why ‘downtempo' is a better description of my style than "chillout," which was a bandwagon everyone jumped on with a load of floaty sounds and cheesey samples," Steve told us.

On "Electrosensitive," he's taken all the best bits from the different genres he's dabbled in over the years (all under a multitude of monikers) and created the greatest hits album he'd yet to release. From the deep house vibes on "Fantasy," to a Hendrix-esque guitar solo on "Elijah" and of course a few dubbed out beach selections too, such as the standout (and first single) "Far Away." Once again, Steve keeps you on your toes, as each passing track offers up something new and the album works as a whole and contains more than it's share of surprises, (steel pedal house!) such as that aforementioned guitar solo.

"A friend of mine, Robert Anthony, is a brilliant guitarist who lives in St. Agnes in Cornwall (UK), which is not far from my studio," Steve explained. "I was listening to ‘Elijah' one afternoon and thought it would be cool to throw a curve into the mix by adding the least expected type of solo imaginable for such a jazzy Parisian lounge style. So I called Robbie and said, ‘Do you think you can come over and drop a guitar solo on this track?' He came over and did this Jimi Hendrix meets ZZ Top style vibe and blew me away with that 32 bar solo he did in one take. Job done."

This is also Steve's most personal album to date, as the title bears significance to a serious medical condition that makes him allergic to WiFi and thus forcing him into exile, barring remote locals

"I discovered my allergy to WiFi the first time I encountered it," Steve shared. "Unpleasant headaches, dizziness, nausea and obviously the inability to concentrate in the studio all come with it. It's a bummer because it means I am extremely limited to where I can go in public. I can't fly obviously or use most trains."

This has made touring behind the album almost impossible and he is currently in the process of searching out a solution. In the meantime, rest assured that a plethora of tracks off "Electrosensitive" will be all over the place this summer, with up-coming remixes for the dance-floor and of course the sublime Afterlife album incarnations for the discerning DJ.

When we talked about just how frequent his tracks are played all over Los Angeles, he was more than a little happy about the news and told us why his sounds are so suitable for all occasions.

"Anywhere really but especially beach bars and cafes that play dubby, downtempo, jazzy, latin chilled house stuff will find an Afterlife track that will work off the new album," he proclaimed. He knows a thing or two about LA, and as a fellow Angeleno, Steve lived in West Hollywood for a few years and found the entire experience to prove profound.

"Everybody's experiences of LA are different but for me it taught me to ask the 'What If...' a lot. It's a life changer."

We know we've had a few revelations of our own while experiencing an Afterlife track or two, so we'll do our best to to make sure all of our favorite haunts are playing the new album on repeat. With one listen of Steve's exclusive LA2DAY "Less Tinsel, More Town," mini-mix, they'll know exactly what we're on about.

We've also got 3 copies of this essential new album for you to win! Just follow us on Twitter, @LA2DAY and tweet us your favorite Afterlife track for a chance to win!

The Details

Afterlife
http://www.subatomicuk.com/content.php
http://www.myspace.com/stevemillerisafterlife

Afterlife's LA2DAY "Essential Summer" Mini-mix

1. This Earth - Afterlife
2. This City Never Sleeps - No Logo
3. Election Day - The Normalites
4. Summertime - Chris Coco (Afterlife Mix)
5. 100 Billion Stars - Lux (Afterlife mix)

Story By: Ryan Simoneau