Mica Levi - slob air

One of this country's current finest is back with a highly limited, single sided 12" for Hyperdub that might well be up there with their best work to date. If you've followed Mica's work the past decade or so, you'll understand that as quite the claim, but no mistake this is a truly ambitious piece of pop-adjacent, modern composition that few are pulling off right now. At 17 minutes long it's quite the undertaking, built around trip hop style drums, a buried in the mix chanted vocal refrain and a swirling, looped string section that finds a euphoric midpoint between Blue Lines-era Massive Attack and the kind of MIDI-based mini symphonies Dean Blunt was experimenting with circa The Redeemer.  Though there's little 'miniature' about 'Slob Air'. It's an overused term, but this is markedly and memorably epic business, dramatic in a manner that's clearly informed by Mica's film work but not precious in the way soundtracks can sometimes feel when divorced from their visual context. On repeat all week. Undoubtedly a 2024 highlight and year-end contender. Let's hope there's a full album of this kind of thing coming down the line shortly. For now however, this is plenty sufficient.