Making your debut album a double might seem like an act of hubris, but LHF have got talent to spare - No Fixed Abode, Amen Ra, Double Helix and Low Density Matter could all, we're sure, turn out top-quality solo albums if they wanted, so it's only fair that they should all contribute as fully as they do to this collective effort, new on Martin Clark's Keysound. LHF are often held up as standard-bearers for dubstep, and while it's true that they understand and honour the sound's ageless fundamentals, they also bring much more to the table. Amen Ra favours a synth-heavy, video game-reared sound, but explores all kinds of rhythms, from wonked-out hip-hop roll to conga-fuelled halfstep; Double Helix's contributions are for us the ones that really stand out, with their eerie sci-fi synth washes and cinematic samples orbiting dark garage flexes that El-B would be proud to call his own. The two Low Density Matter tracks channel jazz-flecked but resoundingly bashy early noughties broken beat, while No Fixed Abode explores an ethnically-charged trippiness, coming over like Muslimgauze-meets-Mala on the wonderful 'Indian Street Slang'. Stitched together with a truly auteurist sensibility, Keepers Of The Light is a stunning statement of intent from LHF; a beautifully crafted collage wrought from the signals of London pirate frequencies that don't exist, but ought to.
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Making your debut album a double might seem like an act of hubris, but LHF have got talent to spare - No Fixed Abode, Amen Ra, Double Helix and Low Density Matter could all, we're sure, turn out top-quality solo albums if they wanted, so it's only fair that they should all contribute as fully as they do to this collective effort, new on Martin Clark's Keysound. LHF are often held up as standard-bearers for dubstep, and while it's true that they understand and honour the sound's ageless fundamentals, they also bring much more to the table. Amen Ra favours a synth-heavy, video game-reared sound, but explores all kinds of rhythms, from wonked-out hip-hop roll to conga-fuelled halfstep; Double Helix's contributions are for us the ones that really stand out, with their eerie sci-fi synth washes and cinematic samples orbiting dark garage flexes that El-B would be proud to call his own. The two Low Density Matter tracks channel jazz-flecked but resoundingly bashy early noughties broken beat, while No Fixed Abode explores an ethnically-charged trippiness, coming over like Muslimgauze-meets-Mala on the wonderful 'Indian Street Slang'. Stitched together with a truly auteurist sensibility, Keepers Of The Light is a stunning statement of intent from LHF; a beautifully crafted collage wrought from the signals of London pirate frequencies that don't exist, but ought to.
Making your debut album a double might seem like an act of hubris, but LHF have got talent to spare - No Fixed Abode, Amen Ra, Double Helix and Low Density Matter could all, we're sure, turn out top-quality solo albums if they wanted, so it's only fair that they should all contribute as fully as they do to this collective effort, new on Martin Clark's Keysound. LHF are often held up as standard-bearers for dubstep, and while it's true that they understand and honour the sound's ageless fundamentals, they also bring much more to the table. Amen Ra favours a synth-heavy, video game-reared sound, but explores all kinds of rhythms, from wonked-out hip-hop roll to conga-fuelled halfstep; Double Helix's contributions are for us the ones that really stand out, with their eerie sci-fi synth washes and cinematic samples orbiting dark garage flexes that El-B would be proud to call his own. The two Low Density Matter tracks channel jazz-flecked but resoundingly bashy early noughties broken beat, while No Fixed Abode explores an ethnically-charged trippiness, coming over like Muslimgauze-meets-Mala on the wonderful 'Indian Street Slang'. Stitched together with a truly auteurist sensibility, Keepers Of The Light is a stunning statement of intent from LHF; a beautifully crafted collage wrought from the signals of London pirate frequencies that don't exist, but ought to.