SBTRKT - SBTRKT

SBTRKT the man – real name Aaron Jerome – wears a mask. Not like a superhero mask, or a Mexican wrestling mask, but the same kind of thing you might catch MF Doom sporting if his budget was dramatically reduced. Maybe it’s because of his past musical misdemeanours – a past life as a free-wheeling, sub-Jamiraquoi, pop-jazz artist lives on through youtube, but this project is a marked departure from that – and joyously so.

First off, the labels – if you’re feeling lazy, you can stick this in your ‘nightbus’ collection to freshen it up and nobody would really bat and eyelid. But there’s more depth and variation than such pigeonholing allows, bringing in some imaginative synth work to compliment the often-understated vocals and minimalistic production.

The term ‘album of the year’ has been thrown about in regards to this debut release, and not without some weight too. The ‘grower’ is a term taken from the first page of the music journalists handbook to encourage repeat listens of an LP, but SBTRKT manages to give it an entirely new meaning. The album starts off great and, as it runs through its 11 tracks, it gains confidence and slowly convinces the listener of its own unique charms, so that by the time ‘Trials of the past’ hits 5 songs in, you’re in thrall to it.

Jerome must surely be happy with the fruits of his labour, but it’s his collaborator Sampha who truly steals the show. The latest in a long line of hook-ups between the two, they play to each other’s strengths and offer some of the LP’s many highlights – including the aforementioned ‘Trials..’ – as SBTRKT acts as the perfect foil for Sampha’s lovingly bruised crooning, whilst neither ever makes quite the same sense when they’re apart.

Ridiculously consistent, it’s difficult to find a bum note in its duration, perhaps the only failing being the lack of a true focal point to centre the album around, and the same audience that are likely going to be listening to this are going to be the ones who’ve forgotten about it next week. But for Jerome, this is nothing to worry about – there are armies of bedroom producers who haven’t yet come close to creating anything even approaching anything here.