SBTRKT & Sampha

My favourite moment on this melancholic grower comes a couple of minutes in when Sampha, singing I need another in my life, mangles his diction to emulate the trademark Todd Edwards garage effect of chopping up and repitching vocals- man copying machine copying man, I think the first time Ive heard a singer try this- and I want more ! Elsewhere Living Like I Do calls to mind the great British songwriters of the early 80s, think Fine Young Cannibals or Terry Halls impassioned social observations with Fun Boy 3. The first verse reads like the antithesis of the champagne and moschino 2 step that informs SBTRKTs beat

Got sucked into a culture living like you do// Spending by the hour living like you do// Cant make ends make living like you do// This life will turn you sober living like you do// As the tension builds

And where back-in-the-day classics such as Brasstooths Celebrate Life may have acknowledged lifes hardships, they always remained optimistic; celebratory. Theres nothing but loneliness to Samphas world of debt and stress. In the austerity, Tory strangled London of 2011 that seems about right. An excellent pop record. 9/10

Ian Mcquaid

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