ETCH

Following the intense chromatography of the well-received E.m.m.a. longplayer, Keysound Recordings returns to the shadows with the label’s first full EP from newcomer Etch. While recent releases from Beneath, Visionist, Wen and Logos have brought a fresh and edgy new approach in the emerging 130bpm space, 21-year-old Etch arrives at a similar location from an original angle. If Beneath brought 2004 halfstep dubstep’s dark underbelly to UK funky’s rhythmic pulse and Wen, Visionist and Logos twisted grime from darker, more abstracted vantage points, then Etch brings a jungle flavour to the dance. Not exclusively of course: his collaboration “Sounds” with Wen-mentor J-One sits somewhere between 2step garage and Mala’s more meditative moments. First featured in a mix by Keysound family Grievous Angel, the haunting refrain “when we hear sounds we are not the same, we are…. changed” lingers; its cadence adding devastating nuance for anyone who’s life has ever been irrevocably altered by intense musical revelation. Lead cut “Hybrid” runs call-and-response stabs echoes early rave without ever scenting of fromage. Its brutal punches have proved massive in clubs, with Dusk + Blackdown road testing it at Fabric, in Berlin, on Rinse FM and their own homegrown Keysound Sessions night in London to mention but a few. Turns out his jump up contribution to Keysound Allstars 2, “Scattah”, was indeed a super-sharp warning shot. But returning to the jungle, the EPs other cuts “Lost Methods” and “Sphynx” take two different approaches. The latter recontextualises ’97 techstep’s robotic rigidity into the new 130bpm experimentation zone. Direct, imposing snares punch relentless rivet indentations that are ripe for filling with deft, flickering percussion. Like an intense proxy-memory flood for the 21-year-old Etch, the sample intones with the epic grandeur of a late ‘80s, early ‘90s anthem: “you are the people of chemistry, the people of physics… the people of rhythm.” For lovers of the Metalheadz/No U Turn era of drum & bass, it’s like meeting an old friend in an entirely new life. “Lost Methods” recalls early Photek, with its bleep stabs and looping, unflinching refrain: “that’s what I’m talking about … old school methods.” In a world of house, house and more anodyne house, sometimes you have to back to go forward: Etch has uncovered some old school methods and is alchemist enough to deploy them.