UK-based electronic producer Crewdson (Hugh Jones) and vocalist Femme (Laura Bettinson) first collaborated as Eckoclick last year on a remix of Bambooman’ ‘Sun’, and a year on this self-titled 12†EP offers up their debut proper. What’s particularly interesting about the six tracks collected here is that the duo have opted for a completely sample-based working method that eschews the use of synths and drum machines in favour of processing their own beats and textures from found sounds, vocals and instrumental performances. The end result is a highly detailed, often juddering and unpredictable take on leftfield rnb-pop and broken house influences that occasionally calls to mind the more vocal pop-centred directions being explored by Matthew Herbert circa his ‘Around The House’ album.
‘Dream In Colour’ sees Femme’s smooth multitracked soul vocals gliding airily against a backdrop of rattling broken-house rhythms and blurred ambient synths while occasional hints of funk bass rear their heads. ‘Dance With Me’ meanwhile sees the rnb influences becoming more overt as hip hop-centred snares flex and snap against Femme’s vampy chorus hooks and elastic sounding funk guitar licks get stuttered and fractured all over the place, only for things to suddenly streamline themselves out into a creamy smooth house outro section. Elsewhere, ‘Controller’ gets darker and moodier, sending volleys of broken polyrhythms rattling against surging background synths as Femme’s urgent sounding looped backing harmonies add to the sense of building tension, before ‘Bad Luck’ ushers in a wander through clicking tech-house rhythms, glitchy textural processing and eerily robotic vocal treatments that adds a sinister yet opulent edge to Femme’s cold chanteuse presence. As an intro taster to Eckoclick’ unpredictable and intricate rnb-house aesthetic, this is pretty impressive stuff.
