Lewis James - The Death Of Habit

  • Warm, inviting drum & bass on the best Exit release in some time.
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  • Whenever I think I have Exit figured out, its sound shuffles. From releasing straight-up drum & bass by names like Jubei to the insanity of DJ Fulltono, the label's path zig-zags from conventional drum & bass to somewhere far beyond. Lewis James' debut on the label is somewhere in between. The Irish producer has been operating on the fringes of the genre for a while. The Death Of Habit is his most accomplished record yet, a brief but nourishing collection of drum & bass-adjacent music. James shows off his songwriting chops on "Worth The Pain," an R&B collaboration with the vocalist Alia Fresco so pitch-perfect that it could be on a mainstream pop record. There's a hint of dBridge's Autonomic sound in its faint glow, which resurfaces on the moody "Triangle." Where drum & bass is often about functionality and rhythm, James highlights melody and texture. This comes to light best on the dBridge collaboration "Acidize," which is six minutes of jerky Super Mario Bros melodies. "No Team," a collaboration with American hip-hop producer Lorn, is warm and inviting, almost like a hug. These qualities make The Death Of Habit a potential sleeper hit, and the finest Exit release in some time.
  • Tracklist
      A1 The Sorrow In Ronan A2 Worth The Pain feat. Alia Fresco B1 Acidize feat. dBridge B2 Triangle B3 No Team feat. Lorn
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