Wednesday 7 August 2013

Murlo - Adder EP (Unknown to the Unknown)

There's a lot of noise at the moment being made about Midlands born Chris Pell a.k.a. Murlo. His Rinse FM guestmix (courtesy of Brackles) was well received as a strong showcase of his productions and since then we've heard news of a forthcoming EP on Glacial Sound and forthcoming releases on Oil Gang and Mixpak. His new EP comes on DJ Haus' Unknown to the Unknown and is a 3 track demonstration of Murlo's ability to blur genre lines while maintaining his trademark soca-influenced sound.

The title track, "Adder" is a playful riddim that draws from UK Funky and Eski coupling jaunty, off-beat snares with hollow gliding synths and eski clicks. The second track "Irises", this reviewer's favourite, takes the grime influences even further with marcato strings and “Danny Weed snares” to create a piece that's dripping with originality. The lead comes from pipes that come in intermittently with a particularly catchy riff in two octaves that creates a sense of call and response. The closing track, "Palace" will the most familiar of the three to people that have caught one of Murlo's mixes recently. It's a summer tune, an R&B meets dancehall track that channels feel-good Caribbean vibes.

What impresses me the most, however, is that Murlo can display this extraordinary prolificacy (between eps and remixes he still has time to drop free zips) without any sacrifice of quality. This EP is one of the best releases I've heard all year. Can't wait for the next one.