SBTRKT: SBTRKT – review

(Young Turks)

SBTRKT spent much of the last decade working under his real name, Aaron Jerome, experimenting with chillout and trip-hop. Since adopting a moniker (and a mask, for public appearances) he's released a handful of EPs that jump-start house tempos with smashed-up dubstep rhythms and soulful vocals. His debut LP marks his most coherent effort yet, moving from glitchy opener Heatwave into downbeat garage on Hold On and choppy synths on the euphoric Sanctuary. Featured vocalists transform a patchwork of urban electronics into clubby pop anthems. Wildfire sounds like it could've been written for Katy B, while Right Thing to Do is remarkably similar to a recent hit by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Buried in the almanac, under the effortless vocals of Sampha on Trials of the Past, SBTRKT hits on a stylistic precision he might rightly call his own.

Hazel Sheffield

The GuardianTramp

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