MUSIC REVIEW: SBTRKT - 'SBTRKT'

Dubstep Debut Album that Evolves Personality from Behind the Mask

By: Andrew Shaw

September 12, 2011

(Young Turks) The man behind the mask is Aaron Jerome, a man who has spent the last few years honing skills, stirring a fuss, and turning out club treats for the eager scene, always on the scope for the next big thing. Now, though, Jerome stands back and elects for a kind of anonymity; he wears modern interpretations of traditional tribal masks, and he's changed his name to SBTRKT, pronounced Subtract. This kind of alter-ego that craves anonymity may be a paradoxical talking point, but SBTRKT asserts that his personality isn't to be the focus of attention; the world should be listening to the tunes.

It is no mistake that the tunes from SBTRKT are more focused than offerings we'd heard from Aaron Jerome. There's a directness of approach about the collection that seems entirely set on the target. Some critics have called this 'Post-Dubstep' because there's a kind of experimental approach that takes genre beyond itself, but this isn't just Dubstep; influences draw from all over House, Soul, Electronica, and Pop. In one sense, this collection is actually Poppier than anything we've heard before. Perhaps the greatest experiment is the approach of dripping all of these colors together to produce a genuinely emulsified sound that all ears can access. These compositions are deliberately rich, deliberately thick, and accommodate a whole bunch of guesting vocalists. Lyrical duties are shared between Jessie Ware and Roses Gabor, with scene darlings Sampha and Yukimi Nagano adding their credentials to the process. SBTRKT's ear leans heavily toward instrumental crispness; each track arrives as a well-rounded account of itself before the vocals are laced in. If the level of precision removes an element of spontaneity from the instrumental side of things, it is the addition of vocals that brings balance.

A purely instrumental track closing the collection is “Go Bang.” It's an articulate definition of how SBTRKT feels about music and the nature of sound itself. This is a massive track, so wealthy it's almost overpopulated by noise and a variety of frequencies. The beat is danceable, almost to the point of stomp. A swirling sound passes as if the synth has learned to breathe, and a high-pitched phrase of keys seems to be enough. But then other noises -- pizzicato strings, rolling congas, and other fantastic drops of color -- punctuate the conclusion. There's a feeling that this is the signature of SBTRKT. It's no mistake that these sounds underline everything that have gone before. The track may be retitled “This is Where I'm Coming From.”

Aside from the musical size of things, there's a definite interest in the scale of all things human, historic, and universal. In “Something Goes Right,” we're almost in Timbaland territory, in terms of production, whilst the narration details a variety of perspectives. From a personable account of holding out for a spot of good luck and waiting for change within a relationship, we're taken up into the clouds to cast our eyes back to the Earth, and then up into space to a variety of constellations which may or may not effect the paths of our own destinies. For all of the musical abundance, there are moments here when gravity shifts and keys are reduced to a heartbeat sprinkled with the sound of twinkling stars. We're almost naked as we drift “Up into space, up, up into space.”

Roses Gabor's vocal flow on one of the Poppiest tracks, “Pharoahs,” is as smooth as hell and relishes the bouncing list of human ambitions. Drums trip, synths rise, hands clap, and the phrasing presents one of those earworms that drills in deep to make a home in your brain. Whether you hit 'replay' or not, here's a song that will continue to loop in the head. You can't stop hearing this thing echoing around. Be warned.

Other moments are less esoteric. “Wildfire” plays out like almost pure modern Funk/Soul. The sentiments are more straightforward and perhaps less playful. There are no hidden meanings or shifting angles. Here, above a warped-out bass, Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano nails the sensual “Like a wildfire, you've got me risin' high!” It's one of the strongest moments in the collection. If “Go Bang” is the instrumental definition of ambition, here is the lyrical equivalent. In simple, perhaps antiquated terms, it's groovy and it should be played loud.

SBTRKT the album arrives as more than a simple debut. In a shifting scene that develops new waves and often alters directions to varying degrees of success, here is a fragment of something that will endure. There are few albums that can be used to measure how high the flood waters reached before the flow changed direction. Here there is the genuine sense of a swollen quantity that occurs when so many influential factors come together, flood the senses, and genuinely establish a new sound. What SBTRKT the artist achieves is a feat of timing. Here we see an artist with a shrewd sense of sonic craft and the ability to impose his will on the forces of nature at just the right time.

Standout Tracks: “Wildfire,” “Go Bang,” “Pharoahs”

For Fans Of: James Blake, Jamie Woon, James Pants