Sheffield-shaped leftfield thrumming thrillers
Who He?
Moving to Sheffield from his native Iran, aged seven, 29-year-old Pedram Mehrshahi is a man who very much appreciates heritage when he lives among it. Signed to posterboy DJ James Zabiela’s Born Electric label and releasing his debut single in November 2103, Pedram stole the show when the label staged a Boiler Room Takeover and then, with things heating up nicely, he vanished.
Why Pedram?
Because he’s back back back. And in some style. That 2013 debut was a tale of two sides. Dancefloor-driven ‘Nina’ was decent enough, but a bit Radio One Friday night. Much more interesting was ‘Immaturity’, a slow messed-up groove, a hectic sampled female vocal repeating over and over. Which way would he jump with his new shizz? Pleasingly, the ‘Lex EP’ sees him leaping the right way.
Tell Us More
Pedram lives on Sheffield’s famous Park Hill Estate, a Grade II-listed Brutalist 1960s council monolith overlooking Steel City in one direction and rolling hills of the Peaks in the other. With views like that, no wonder his new EP sounds the way it does. Lead cut ‘Lex’, a slow-building bubbler, is the funkier of the three new cuts, and nods in the direction of the blips and beeps of Warp, while the garage-y late night rumbler of ‘Walkedin’ should please the cool crowd. But the standout is ‘Ernstige’, where a subtle refrain squirms its way out of a locked down beat, slightly ‘O Superman’ in feel, very much Cabaret Voltaire in vibe. Sheffield through and through, just the way we like it.
‘Lex EP’ is released by Born Electric
