LA producer Travis Stewart’s ninth solo album spans underground flavours from both sides of the Atlantic, from hip hop and trap to dubstep and drum ’n’ bass. It’s big on collaborations, with eight of the 11 tracks here featuring a co-credit, though that could be vocal, instrumental or co-production. There are superlative rhyming skills on display from Freddie Gibbs, who gives voice to the brassy political rap joint ‘Kane Train’, while Father gives voice to the more skittery, glitchy ‘Spin Blocks’.
Drum ’n’ bass don Sub Focus lends a hand on the stirring ‘1000 Miles’, where lush-sounding acoustic guitar textures are played off against the darker sonic edges. But the best bits are those that conform least to established forms, like the woozy textures and splintered rhythms of ‘Sleepy Pietro’, with seductive jazz piano from Tigran Hamasyan, the Squarepusher-does-trap stylings of ‘Inner Eye’ or the way ‘The Relic’ evolves from harp sounds and sweet vocals into distorted hoover bass and dubsteppy beats.
