- "Cack" begins with wisps of synth. Moving in and out of earshot, they hint at something big to come, but they still won't prepare you for what follows. Paired with brutal low-end jabs, the toms are like gut punches, and the track wobbles with a drunken swagger that feels unpredictably violent. "Cack" is among the most distinctive Beneath tracks, and that's saying something. Since debuting with a sound rooted in UK funky, house and dubstep, the English producer has spent years playing a game of chicken with himself: just how off-piste can he go without falling off a cliff? The sixth release on No Symbols is the closest he's come, but there are no falls here—only exacting blows from unexpected angles.
Beneath's music is as much about texture as discombobulated beats. On "Lifted," the drums are top-heavy and stumble over themselves, but a zippy synth lead, which flitters around the rhythm, gives it delirious momentum. The combative "Fuck Ya'll" is the only thing that sounds somewhat standard—Livity Sound with a snarl—though the wet, almost acrid synth, sounding more corrosive than acid, is signature Beneath. It's another idiosyncrasy on a record packed full of them.
TracklistA1 Lifted
B1 Cack
B2 Fuck Ya'll