Submotion Orchestra: Colour Theory CD review – flashes of brilliance

This Leeds-based, seven-piece dubstep outfit made their name creating jazz-flecked, bass-heavy records, but for their fourth album, they edge closer to IDM (intelligent dance music). Frontwoman Ruby Wood, who recently gave birth, takes a back seat, her sultry voice appearing on only three tracks. The band have enlisted the help of equally beguiling vocal talents, most notably soul singer Andrew Ashong, whose folksy lilt on Needs makes the track an album standout. This is a record full of brilliance and charm, but is front-loaded; the second half loses the soulful, melancholic quality of the first, and despite the glossy production from Ruckspin, the group’s longtime producer, the cheerier tracks like Ao risk being mistaken for Jamie xx cast-offs.