Long-time Hyperdub artist and Manthe Ribane collaborator, Okzharp, releases an EP of pummelling dance tunes. There’s a small degree of soul missing in the cuts: one that came through with the unpredictability of 2018’s Closer Apart. Outside the Ride is at its most eloquent in the industrial fabrics, where an expressive maximalism takes place. It’s difficult to assess the EP when the tracks are palpably designed for large, high-ceilinged dancefloors; though there would be few complaints in context, the shortage of melody across the record would, perhaps, underwhelm. That said, the mouth-mangling weight of certain moments here are well-conceived to aggressively invigorate.
19/30
A favourite: ‘Tom Tom Ride Out’
‘Outside the Ride’ is out now via Hyperdub.
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