FALTY DL

HARDCOURAGE

Ninja Tune

17/20

In one of the most confident and assured albums to emerge from the Ninja Tune stables in several years, Hardcourage offers a masterclass in how to create electronic music that is sophisticated without being serious, slick without being smooth, and eclectic without being a bag of disparate, disjointed influences. Opener Stay I’m Changed sets the tone – bass stabs and cascading synths – before the softly spoken She Sleeps (featuring the gentle vocals of Friendly Fires’ Ed Macfarlane) gives way to the looping grooves and shimmying vocal samples of first single Straight and Arrow, which caused waves in 2012 with storming remixes from Gold Panda and Four Tet.

There’s a smooth self-confidence and sophistication in the production that could stand against the likes of Tevo Howard. But if that end of the house music spectrum can tend towards seriousness, there’s a willingness to explore more emotive avenues on Hardcourage. Falty DL uses jazz dynamics in much the same way that Dam Mantle did on his equally impressive debut album last year – soft, shuffling synths, pads and brass are deployed throughout. But it’s tracks like For Karme and Korben Dallas that really impress, sounding like lost treasure from Kuedo’s 2011 masterpiece, Severant.

Closing track Bells is a lilting glance back over the shoulder, smouldering with unrequited love and perfectly wrapping up a glorious, consistently brilliant album.

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Words: Adam Corner