Selections: Ploy

Whether it’s wonky UK bass experiments for Hessle Audio and Timedance, or more recent excursions into pounding house music via Dekmantel and Faith Beat, Ploy has injected a singular energy into the UK underground over the last decade. “The process is always exploration and then refinement,” the South London-based artist told DJ Mag, “except the parameters in which I work change based on how or what I’m feeling at the time, or what is exciting me.”

While Ploy’s pivot into more direct house music production might have come as a surprise to some – this is the guy who made wild tracks like ‘Sala One Five’ and ‘Ramos’ after all – it aligns with an approach defined by constant evolution. Previously a dependable wellspring for DJ tools across the bass music, UK techno and dubstep continuum, he’s now keen to bring a disruptive energy to the “well-trodden template of house music, applying everything [he’s] learnt along the way.”

The first iteration of this arrived in the form of April 2025’s ‘It’s Later Than You Think’ LP: a functional yet unbelievably fun compendium of main-room bangers with just enough off-kilter energy to feel unmistakably Ploy. Eight-minute opener ‘When In Room’ is powerful and percussive, with swung drums and a crisp 4/4 beat for a feeling of endless propulsion, while cuts like ‘Admirer’ and ‘Stringz’ deliver straight-up festival fuel, with synth flourishes for added theatre and scale. An assured statement of intent from an ever-curious producer, the project served as a reminder of house music’s endless capacity to surprise us.

He followed it up with the ‘Flirt’ EP for Faith Beat – a five-track deep dive into the darker corners of house, infused with mutated garage textures, percussive weight and haughty peak-time flair.

Moving into 2026, Ploy’s keen to keep the momentum flowing both in the studio and on the dancefloor. “My goals are to get my club night back up and running in a new capacity, put some more records out on my label Deaf Test and release some music I’ve been working on with friends,” he told DJ Mag. “As well as a follow-up record on Dekmantel alongside other EP’s from me…”

Ploy offers a taste of what you can expect to hear from his upcoming sets and releases in this week’s Selections, spotlighting trippy tech-house, wiggly synthy bangers, pop-leaning anthems, and more. Dive in below.