Each week on the FACT Singles Club, a selection of our writers work their way through the new music of the week gone by.
With the way individual tracks are now consumed, the idea of what constitutes a single has shifted dramatically in the last half a decade, and its for this reason that the songs reviewed across the next pages are a combination of 12″ vinyl releases, mixtape cuts, Soundcloud uploads and more. All are treated equally – well, most of the time. On the chopping block this week: Mumdance, The-Dream, Chance the Rapper and more.
Mumdance – ‘Take Time’
John Twells: I’ve been looking forward to this emerging since Mumdance dropped it on his FACT mix and hearing it isolated doesn’t damage its impact one bui. Novelist kills it, but it’s Mumdance’s chilly, piercing beat that elevates ‘Take Time’ to the next level. (9)
Walker Chambliss: I’m consistently impressed by Mumdance’s ability to make exciting, dynamic tracks out of a very limited palette of sounds. This is another that hits the mark: the vocals from Novelist are great, and it’s produced well. But Mumdance’s sneakiest skill is his songwriting, which is best on display in this track. Everything is arranged perfectly to give you that extra bang in what could have otherwise been pretty average. Killer. (8)
Chris Kelly: Some of Mumdance’s instrumental grime tracks have begged for MCs, and ‘Take Time’ has just enough white space for Novelist to do his thing. The helium breakdown is a momentum killer, though. (7)
Joe Moynihan: Nov is just the guy right now ain’t he? Alongside his own (very wicked) shit he’s been surfing all these weirder distortions of grime to come from the extended Boxed crew with kind of MC-professionalism that’s rare these days – subtly catering his flow to each tune and just hyping up everything that’s thrown at him like it’s nothing. Not unlike Mumdance really, whose recently revamped identity is stamped on all these collaborations he’s been doing without ever overshadowing the people he’s working with. ‘Take Time’ is a perfect example; his reverb-drenched drum machine pulses and spasms pack a tight punch, while Novelist fills every space with deftly executed verbal kicks. (8)
Chal Ravens: File under GUNFINGERS/AIRHORN/SHIRT-OVER-THE-HEAD. Novelist shines – he’s gonna be massive. (7)
The-Dream – ‘BLACK’
Chal Ravens: As blunt as the back of spoon, but earnestness always carries a risk, as does attempting to condense ideas more complicated than “party!” or “sexy time!” into a hummable four minute song. So credit is due. Let’s have more intersectional pop music! (5)
Chris Kelly: Pleasantly surprised to see The-Dream (of all people) continue R&B’s tradition of social and political action and using the Sterling controversy to spark a larger conversation. It doesn’t hurt that his songwriting and production are as touching as ever. (8)
Walker Chambliss: I’m an unabashed Terius fanatic, but I feel like he’s lost a step since LoveKing, moving away from songs that seemed to carry some personal and emotional weight and more towards distracting love jams (even the supposedly “dark” 1977 was pretty forgettable). This is the first track in quite a while I’ve heard from him that reaches the heights of his best work. His songwriting skill is beyond question, but injecting a really soulful and personal message into this song while keeping the song from veering into a hamfisted, ‘Imagine’-esque love fest is pretty impressive. It feels more like he’s attempting to untangle the mess of race and class relations, and the feeling of disenfranchisement that affects those the world over, without necessarily looking for an answer to those problems. It’s pure feeling, which is really what this man does best. (10)
John Twells: Like practically everyone else, I was pretty disappointed with the uninspired IV Play, so it’s refreshing to hear Terius going back to what he does best. ‘BLACK’ is anthemic, and while it skates pretty close to Bruce Hornsby at times (that piano!) it makes me excited for what might be in store over the next few months. (7)
Róisín Murphy – ‘In Sintesi’
Chal Ravens: I’m all over this like a cheap suit with a label that reads ‘ARMANDI’. Roisin Murphy is the definition of a safe pair of hands when it comes to Italo disco, and her voice sounds great over the retro-but-still-punchy production. (7)
Walker Chambliss: Maybe it’s just because I drank a bunch of coffee before I sat down and listened to this, but the way this track is mixed makes me feel all jittery and anxious. I’m generally not a big fan of nostalgia projects because we’ve already got original recordings from that era. It’s okay I guess, and I get what Ms. Murphy and her cohorts were going for with this project, but it seems a bit unnecessary. (5)
John Twells: I don’t know what I was expecting from Roisin but it wasn’t this. ‘In Sintesi’ sounds as if it’s been snatched from one of those bumper double-LP compilations of lost soundtrack cuts you’d find haunting the bins at Dusty Groove, and that’s no bad thing at all. By the time it reaches the twinkly, cosmic climax I’m on board 100% (6)
Martyn & Four Tet – ‘Glassbeadgames (8 Hours at Fabric Dub)’
Joe Moynihan: “Nice kalimba motherfucker” is today’s Soundcloud Comment of the Day that’s preventing me from thinking of any original comment in this week’s Single Club. Tune’s a real nice (7) though, I like this slippery, woah where’s it going – oh cool nowhere too far – wait where am I now, house wave Kieran’s on at the moment. (7)
Chal Ravens: Gritting my teeth over “8 Hours at Fabric Dub”, but yeah, this is lush – the bossy snare is giving the blissed melody some bite, and that build and drop makes for Big Fun of Inner City-level proportions. (7)
Walker Chambliss: I would probably enjoy hearing this track in a mix. It’s just different enough to get my ears to perk up once those synth stabs come in, but for two guys who are obviously really technically skilled, I wish they would just go a bit further off the map and do something really weird. Totally fine, but you have to think they’d have more in their arsenal for this collaboration. (6)
John Twells: Four Tet and Martyn form like Voltron into… err… Floating Points? (5)
Chris Kelly: Those vocal cuts are nice enough, but this felt 8 hours long, and not in a good way. (3)
Chance The Rapper – ‘I Am Very Very Lonely’
Chris Kelly: An ennui anthem with a naked and flawed vocal performance. An Acid Rap follow-up remains near the top of my 2014 wishlist, despite this. (5)
Walker Chambliss: Okay, what the fuck kind of title is this? Chance’s name was already hilarious but “‘I Am Very Very Lonely’ by Chance the Rapper” has a distinct “rap song made by an 8 year old” vibe to it, which would actually probably be more interesting than this mess of a song. What is even going on here? “Snapchat, bitch” is up there for one of the worst ad-libs I’ve ever heard. (1)
Chal Ravens: It’s been a year since Acid Rap and a year since Chance has put his name to anything as good as Acid Rap. I guess I’m suffering from guest verse fatigue (James Blake, Bieber, Skrillex) but this isn’t the shot in the arm it needs to be. (4)
John Twells: I am very very bored. (3)
DOSS – ‘The Way I Feel’
Chris Kelly: Saccharine trance-pop with a bubblegum beat and cotton candy vocals. So tongue-in-cheek it comes out the other side. (6)
Walker Chambliss: DOSS struck pure gold in terms of an artistic angle by being the first person I can think of that’s full on mining the “electronica introduced to America in 1997” aesthetic that is actually surprisingly rich and ripe for an update. I guess those seapunk dudes and like, Unicorn Kid kinda did that as well but not in such a specific and well-packaged way. Anyway, the music is probably as trance-y as you would guess, but underneath all the Wipeout synths and filtered drum fills is a pretty well written pop song. Not mad. (7)
Chal Ravens: I have no idea why I’m being made to listen to this. (3)
Joe Moynihan: Alright so this is my favourite tune of the year so far. It is basically the exact soundtrack I’ve been searching years for to soundtrack my imagined future life, alone in an empty skyscraping city apartment, browsing postnormcore winter wear on a glass table/touchscreen computer, drafting emails I’ll delete instead of sending in the latest version of Word, in which Miku Hatsune plays the role of the retired paperclip, and, every once in a little while, thinking about her. (9)
John Twells: It’s not big and it’s not clever and who the fuck cares? It’s Wipeout special stage posh trance and I love it. When’s the trance revival coming then eh? Are we due a 2014 version of ‘For An Angel’? (8)
Final scores:
Mumdance – ‘Take Time’ (7.8)
The-Dream – ‘BLACK’ (7.5)
DOSS – ‘The Way I Feel’ (6.6)
Roison Murphy – ‘In Sintesi’ (6)
Martyn & Four Tet – ‘Glassbeadgames (8 Hours at Fabric Dub)’ (5.6)
Chance The Rapper – ‘I Am Very Very Lonely’ (3.25)
