Mount Kimbie - Sketch on Glass EP

A1 Sketch On Glass
A2 Serged
B1 50 Mile View
B2 At Least

Sketch On Glass is the second EP from London-based production duo, Mount Kimbie, and right now—after the world has had ample months to digest the wonder of their debut 12-inch, fully drowning in the astringent twists and the hip-hop template the pair hang their dubstep influences off of—seems like the optimum time for the world to embrace it.

Title track "Sketch On Glass" is, to date, the most dance floor directed production the pair have released, easing its see-sawing keyboards around swollen pockets of high pitched melody before the jagged edged square wave bassline erupts amongst the click clack of the semi-quantized percussion. It's chock full of pure smile-time synthesized vibes that will undoubtedly keep any dance progressive and interesting; a carbon opposite of the moody guitar-led title track from their first EP, which the second track on here, "Serged," evokes; its swathes of mellotron chords, thinly sprinkled drums and computer game bleeps reels you back into your own head after the all-out glee of the EP opener.

"50 Mile View" is the broody centrepiece. Hiding behind a minute of swells, a sprinkling of that tell-tale minimal Kimbie percussion patter and a whole ream of bass evolutions, you find the sweetest piece released by the duo to date, which winds talkbox vocals high around vibraphone chords and on through the pristine snap of a finger snap snare. Finishing the EP with "At Least" Kimbie again show another side, letting the upfront drum line roll out immediately as they pick apart what sounds like the squealing dial-up modem sound that's been lost to the ages.

Mount Kimbie break rules. Not only do they eschew dubstep's 140 BPM template, they—like a lot of their immediate contemporaries—refuse to lean on the midrange bassline or any kind of half-step drum pattern and they never, ever, stop experimenting. While their work is becoming recognisably theirs, their signature drum work and sultry synth chords are the true standout moments on both EPs, one must also credit them with something bigger. By pouring the pounds of passion and eons of their studio time into forging the brave new directions displayed here, they've taken this new, intrinsically woeful and yet delightfully iridescent strain of dubstep and forced it into the ears of a completely new audience.