LV feat. Josh Idehen - 38 EP

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  • When I first heard of LV's plan to release a concept EP based around London's 38 bus, I was quite unsure of how well they were going to pull it off. Releases like this are all too often loaded with pretention. And, in the wrong hands, the spoken word characterisation that they were looking to undertake on each 38 could easily have fallen short of the mark. Thankfully, the grime-inspired wordsmith Josh Idehen has managed to instil a real sense of emotion and humour into the material, giving an undeniably human feel to each of the five musical vignettes. Ranging from dark and bitter internal monologues to describing the actions of a Janis Joplin-loving thug, Idehen's confident and measured delivery belies the fact that this is his first venture into recorded music. LV have already impressed with their dub and roots-infused collaborations with vocalists Dandelion and Errol Bellot a few years back, but the London-based production trio have recently hinted at a darker dubstep direction. Their productions on 38 begin on a chirpily digital dancehall tip that echoes their earlier material, but by the time the sound of the London night segues into "Early Mob," crawling atmospheric minimalism is the order of the day, with Idehen's paranoid and aggressive ranting announcing a heavy rolling drop. At just under two minutes, the bouncy and bass-heavy tropical house of "Your Coat" may get less club use, but its cheeky portrayal of a wannabe gangster should raise a few smiles with people listening on headphones during their own commute. On the flip, "Walk It" saunters along at a steady 91 BPM, with sliding jazzy synths and shuffling shakers. The EP ends on a dark note: "Face Of God" matches the pseudo-homeless Idehen with cavernous minimalist reverberations and an understated rocking bassline. Keysound owner Martin "Blackdown" Clark is obsessed with distilling a sense of the English capital into his label's output. With 38, he's managed to do it more overtly and successfully than ever before.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Lost A2 Early Mob A3 Your Coat B1 Walk It B2 Face of God
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