This world can be a big old scary place and pretty wild if you know where to look, but that’s no reason to hide. We all need to get out there, embrace it and discover. Huntley + Palmers are one of those labels that does just that. Epitomising the best of what global community can be. Across 14 + years of releases, from early Auntie Flo drops, through to the recent David Kochs LP and EPs from Nicola Kruz and Dominik Marz, label head Andrew Thomson has more than done his bit for broadening musical horizons that have grown from his Glasgow roots.

With Early Doors, he’s crafted an enlightening selection of music from friends and acquaintances, leaving no stone unturned in his search for musical delights. If it’s good, just play it. The comp has the classic feel of the mixtape, a dying art maybe, certainly undervalued in the times of endless playlists and the algorithmic infinity. Putting the value back into selection with meaning. Curated from found recordings in forgotten USBs to tracks from mates and travels to just old favourites. it’s a super eclectic blend of wonderfully varied music to suit a headphone journey or soundtrack an afternoon doing nothing much.

There’s plenty to go at, like Jackie House, whose spoken word elegy to the trance inducing magic of the dancefloor experience is a definite highlight. Or Oklo Gabon’s ‘Rue de Dragon’, a trippy builder of electronica that combines nicely with more abstract pieces like Gorse doing ‘A Piece of Salt Shorter’ that challenges listener expectations and rewards attention. Chuck in the driving but melodramatic jazz inflections of Rico Jorge with twisted torch song of Escrombo’s ‘Hey You’ before crossing to Ango’s Canadian take on modern soul with its killer horn solo and the balance comes in just right. A comp to bring a big world closer to home.

Early Doors is released on Huntley + Palmers via Bandcamp on 16 September.