This is the first collaboration between Adrian Sherwood and Pinch – and it whets the appetite for more, to be honest! It is a really atmospheric album that manages to evade categorisation, partly through the way it incorporates strands of Sherwood’s work with Lee ‘Scratch Perry’, Prince Far I and Daddy Freddy. Of course dub is a heavy presence, but speeds vary and there is some imaginative use of instrumentation, riffs and lyrics that mean the style never gets tied down. ‘Shadowrun’ sets the tone, a kind of desolate soundscape with hints of dub and reggae, but with a beat that moves relatively quickly. The ‘Music Killer Dub’, by contrast, is nippy and explosive, with a distant vocal. ‘Bucketman’ finds a perfect combination of bass, moody pad sounds and upper squiggles, while there is a Lovely, persuasive vocal on ‘Stand Strong’, and the way the piano and bass double up is nice. The piano returns in the final Run Them Away, with an uplifting chorus to add to it, wrapping up an album that is as consistent in its originality and keen in its emotion. It certainly puts one or two lame dubstep albums in their place!
5 out of 5
Reviewed by Ben Hogwood
{http://soundcloud.com/on-u-sound-records/sets/sherwood-pinch}
