SBTRKT Step In Shadows EP (Young Turks)
4/5
By: Theo Krekis
Showcasing an eclectic range of musical influences, UK garage-stepper SBTRKT has provided us with an EP with a fair few flashes of brilliance – certainly enough to make one wish you were experiencing it through something other than horrid laptop speakers (there’s an embed below, yeah, but maybe save this one ‘til you get the vinyl?).
Its pleasures are many and varied. Opener ‘Look At Stars’ is a progressive number with vocals from emotronic soul singer Sampha, whose inimitable contribution really makes the track. ‘Step In Shadows’ has elements of SBTRKT’s trademark garage beats, but this time things are born of a much mellower mindset. Penultimate cut ‘Colonise’ promotes melodious synth sounds to the fore over an up tempo beat, the last strains of which melt into ‘Hide And Seek’, the final and most superior number on the EP. Any trepidation you may have had towards the upfront nature of the previous track is instantly diminished, thrown out of a fictitious window, onto a factious road where it splats and never comes back. The contrast of the melancholic swathes of violin playing over a somewhat daunting minimal roaring bass shares similarities with Justin Pearson’s Mike Monday remix of ‘Grace’ (A must listen if you have not), only this track has a much darker feel to it.
All in all, this is a big ‘YES’ for anyone currently just curious about the wondrous beats of this voodoo mask wearing producer.
SBTRKT - Step In Shadows (Young Turks) YT043 by sbtrkt
Artists in this article: SBTRKT
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