Ahead of their victory lap appearance at the Barbican at the end of the month, our favourite post-hardcore/post-whatever outfit Moin keep the ever-prolific production line running with a new six track EP that helps expand our understanding of the group. If you've been following their regular NTS show, you'll know they frequently use the platform as a means to share various works-in-progress and unreleased material, which often reveals a little extra going on under the hood than the studio albums might suggest. Belly Up arrives in that same spirit, a detour of sorts from the more, shall we say, extroverted aspects of most recent LP You Never End into more supple and subtle confines. It's a move that really makes the most of Valentina Magaletti's MVP drum work, her intricate polyrhythmic patterns looped and manipulated in ways that somehow make them both looser but tighter ("slower but faster", as Martin Hannett might have said). There's also another very welcome guest appearance from vocalist/poet Sophia Al-Maria, alongside a couple of outings from Ben Vince, who provides a notably agitated saxophone part to opener 'See'. Elsewhere we get almost footwork-esque samples and what feel like a few nods back to their previous life forays into experimental club music whilst keeping it math-y. So yes, it's an EP doing what an EP is best served to do. Brave new terrain, re-establish the boundaries, sling a few curveballs. There's a song here titled 'I'm Really Flagging'. Across it's six tracks, Belly Up shows Moin are anything but. An already hot band on a consistently hot streak.
FFO: Don Cabalerro, Hella, Tortoise (Standards-era), Yally
