Yppah - Film Burn

Trip-hop has been something of a maligned and unfashionable phrase since the nineties when the amount of acts labelled as such went way past saturation point. American electronic artist Joe Corrales, aka Yppah, is someone who fortunately is not burdened by any such musical prejudices and ‘Film Burn’, the rather lovely lead single from his third album ‘Eighty One,’ is a perfect reminder of why trip-hop should not be such a tainted term.

‘Film Burn’ is a rather more cerebral take on dance music and its languid trippy beat slowly and gently hypnotizes. It is awfully easy to label music like this as insipid chill out, but there is something compelling about Yppah’s adroit grasp of dynamics and melody that give this a beguiling quality. Of course, all of this means nothing without a great hook; the sultry poised vocals of Seattle singer Anomie Belle provide an excellent counterpoint to the bleeps and beats.

Yppah’s understated electronica is perhaps an anomaly when set against a lot of contemporary dance music, but his classic sound is nevertheless very much welcome.