Opening with the ominous ‘Black Aerial’, VUURWERK introduce us to their new EP via a soundscape of claustrophobic Industrial Hip-Hop beats and rattling Techno percussion before the track bursts into life taking its cue as much from the Chicago Footwork scene as it does from the Post-Dubstep Electronica the band have mined on previous releases.
If ‘Black Aerial’ bridged the old and new then ‘G.R.I.P.’ itself is a clear indication of what is to come. Minor key pop that is stained with tears of regret, the music’s late night smudged and bleary textures are contrasted with a beat that tips its hat to the syncopated rhythms of UK Garage providing a fitting setting for Belgian singer Climb X’s weary, lovelorn vocals to bury themselves in.
Providing alternative mixes are hotly tipped Swedish trio DNKL, whose epic cinematic reinterpretation transports the track from a Brussels bedsit to the wide open and majestic Scandinavian fjords and Houndstooth recording artist House of Black Lanterns, who injects more than a hint of his hometown Berlin into the track with a dark and claustrophobic, sludge filled techno rework.