Like Burial or James Blake, London producer SBTRKT makes the future of electronic music seem more exciting than ever. The beats and occasional wobbling bassline on his self-titled debut will be familiar to dubstep fans, but on the whole, the music here is more akin to the spirit of soul and R&B.
Bright synthesizers and catchy hooks help make that happen, but the guests SBTRKT invites to sing on the album are crucial. In "Never Never," a singer by the name of Sampha handles vocal duties, which he does on much of SBTRKT. Sampha sings one forlorn verse after another about a bad decision he deeply regrets, before coming to the damaging realization that he'd probably make the same bad decision again if given another chance.
Still, he wants the person he wronged to return his calls. He hopes, but doesn't feel hopeful, as synths well like tears underneath his chilly, multi-tracked vocal harmonies. Thumb pianos plunk away in the background, adding another nice texture, but that's no cure for loneliness. With no happy ending in sight, "Never Never" winds up in a place more desolate than it started.
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