LAW - Haters And Gangsters

It’s difficult to put on page just how fearful LAW’s capable of making the average passer-by. On stage (and this is something we witnessed during a Neu Presents June show), she’s backed only by a booming stereobox. Cape hanging over her frame, there’s just a single spotlight for lighting. There’s nothing else to focus on but Lauren Holt herself. It’s no surprise, then, to learn that fellow Edinburgh residents Young Fathers have been passing LAW into motion with recent studio sessions. Both creative freaks share a lot in common; an obsession with abrasive beats; a maddening slant on traditional hip-hop and above anything else, hearts deadset on writing cutting hooks.

LAW’s first EP spans 7 tracks, technically flirting with the ‘mini-album’ term. Each song is cold on the outside, with breathless soul waiting to be uncovered. Opener ‘Haters’ resembles The Go! Team raised on night terrors, while ‘Coins For You’ could be mistaken for a Micachu track given its hell-raising, D.I.Y production. In the former, Lauren coos “don’t wanna press you boo / I like ya’”, lacing otherwise distracting beatwork with something genuinely heartfelt. In reality, there’s nothing to fear in LAW. Each of these songs is riddled with clever studio gizmos, but in ‘Scrambled’ she gives sinister chants a euphoric edge, and on ‘OG’ she might have penned her very own ‘Paper Planes’. No gimmicks to be found here. Despite all the flashy tricks it boasts, at ‘Haters and Gangsters’’ core is the spectacular individual behind it all.