Vicious Circles

Album review

Both as individuals and in collaboration, Sinjin Hawke and Zora Jones create futuristic music which is fluid and visceral yet acutely focused and emotionally impactful, in addition to similarly mind-bending audio-visual pieces and installations presented through their online platform, Fractal Fantasy. The duo's Visceral Minds releases have featured collaborations with producers from throughout the footwork, experimental club, and grime scenes, ranging from DJ Rashad and Jlin to L-Vis 1990 and DVA, while Hawke has made an impact on the hip-hop world, working with Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Three 6 Mafia's Gangsta Boo. Vicious Circles is the duo's debut Planet Mu release, as well as the first time either artist has appeared on vinyl (other than Hawke's remixes for DVA and Lemonade). The EP is a brief yet highly potent example of the duo's fusion of grime, footwork, and heavily abstracted pop, filled with their signature vocal manipulations, brassy synths, and intensely detailed beats which still leave room for dramatic build-ups and weightless bass. The exhilarating "God" twists Bulgarian choral samples into a heart-racing rhythm which recalls the Middle Eastern club music of Fatima Al Qadiri. "Lurk 101" begins with a booming, broken kick drum, progresses through jittery, footwork-esque drum patterns, and lands at a downright crazy breakdown. The duo's pop-influenced side surfaces at the end of the EP, with the mutated R&B/grime of "BabyBoySosa" and especially the truly astounding alien love ballad "And You Were One." Vicious Circles is a captivating EP from a duo who seem set to change the face of club music, pop, hip-hop, and the internet.

© Paul Simpson /TiVo