- The Hackney-based Ralph Cumbers is nothing if not a unique figure, with an array of other aliases—many of them finding vent on cassette, rather than vinyl—suggesting a musical mind well worth giving the time of day. So here we are with a new dance floor-oriented 12-inch, exploring a similar set of templates and tempos to Cumbers' recent album Reeling Skullways—although of course, this being Idle Hands rather than Punch Drunk, these tracks are deeper affairs: slower, more sultry and more introspective in character.
"Dawn Chorus Pedal" is gratifyingly dreamy analogue house, whose subtle detailing—minute whispers of delay, feather-light tom hits—is a treat to the ears. In the latter half, a barrage of hi-hats gives the thing an unexpected lift, before giving way to skewed, gorgeously billowing reverbs in the penultimate minute. The plaintive piano chords and sorrowful vocal of "You Don't Know Don't You Know," meanwhile, places it in more pensive territory from the get-go, although its spartan halftime beat and subtly snarling bassline give it a slightly more alien taste.
Still, there's something not entirely convincing here. Like Reeling Skullways, both of these tracks are underpinned with the tactile warmth of modular synthesis—and this, perhaps, is their downfall. Clearly excited more by his melodic, rather than rhythmic, ideas, Cumbers' house-leaning productions too often end up feeling slightly turgid, ponderous and lacking in backbone. Nothing awful here—but nothing particularly incendiary either.
TracklistA Dawn Chorus Pedal
B You Don’t Know Don’t You Know