Tomas Olesen explores the work of modern genius that is the new Kode9 album.
From the moment 'Black Sun' opens on what sounds like a distant thunderstorm it's exciting. Kode9 and Spaceape's debut, 'Memories of The Future', in all its Vangelis-esque glory, was exciting because its introspective, if not paranoid, take on dubstep was a breath of fresh air and a welcome antidote to the generic wobble of a million low frequency oscillators. 'Black Sun' is exciting because it's the most perfect summing up of contemporary electronic music I've ever heard. There's still the beatless, soundtrack-style interludes, it's still uncompromisingly personal. But it's more rhythmic and hopeful. Ultimately it's a fulfilling of the direction indicated by 'Memories of the Futur'; there's that same unmistakably Kode9 palette but with more colours.
Spaceape sounds like a natural successor to Linton Kwesi Johnson. His carefully chosen words all the more powerful for his monotone delivery, and they're beautifully woven in to the tracks, ducking a snare here or tip-toeing behind a synth there. Which means when his vocals are brought to the fore they're even more powerful. He is not alone on this release though. Chinese MC and producer, Cha Cha, makes four appearances too and her subtle additions are a perfect counterweight to Spaceape's urban voodoo.
All of my favourite tracks on the album feature Cha Cha. 'Love Is The Drug' has the ethereal strata of her repeated lyrics, some almost swallowed by the track, floating through synths over a galloping bass drum line and what sound like ring-shifted toms. 'The Cure' is another tune she features on that stands out for me. The counter-play of her whisperings, Spaceape's solid delivery, and a bruk-influenced off-kilter breakbeat is at once hypnotic and driving.
What Kode9 has achieved with this album is in a sense what he's also managed to achieve with his label, Hyperdub: leading the way with innovations of style that soon become de rigeur for the rest of the herd. Choosing to soundtrack an imagined dystopian landscape rather than the Kidulthood-esque world of most modern bass music actually makes for a more real summation of modern urban life. This will speak just as loudly of that experience to the commuter squeezing on to a tube train every morning as it will to the flat-peak wearing youth crammed in to Plastic People for FWD.
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