SBTRKT - Pharaohs

Following the announcement of the Mercury Prize last week, many felt cheated that certain bands were not included in the prestigious list. Cries for more established acts The Horrors, Wild Beasts and Radiohead were made very vocal, but another name kept cropping up of an artist relatively new to the scene, SBTRKT. The elusive masked producer had all the right framework in place, being signed to young turks like previous winners the XX, a wide range of critical and public acclaim and most importantly a damn good record. The record in question, his self-titled debut incorporates a wide range of influences from more modern bass-culture (Wildfire) soulful crooning (Hold on, Trials of the Past) and even fast paced dance tunes almost bordering on drum'n'bass (Sanctuary). This new single and album stand out 'Pharaohs' showcases a completely different set of influences and nuances from the aforementioned. Vocal duties are delegated to Roses Gabor, who in contrast to Sampha who features regularly on the album, is a lot more soft and slightly sexy, think Kelis at her chilled out best. This combined with SBTRKT's 90s house influenced beats makes  a ludicrously infectious song no doubt aimed for dancing, and even though 90s dance and house are not the most well respected genres to namedrop, even the biggest music snob would have a hard time not tapping their feet.

By Toby McCarron