It feels like you can split James Greenwood’s output into two categories. On the one hand there’s this sure-handed machine manipulator who engineered much of Daniel Avery’s Drone Logic album, and on the other is a songwriter in a more classic mould.

These interests have pulled him in more directions than most contemporaries venture: equally comfortable turning out deep, club-ready workouts (Red Smoke) or synth pop gems (Mouth). His eponymous debut went further, fully concentrating on his ear for melody with a record of more traditional pop tracks.

After last year’s techno release Safe/Multiply saw Greenwood’s sights squarely on peak time, the Nucleus EP swings his focus right back to where Ghost Culture was left, only this time eschewing lyrics and singing. Opener Coma, augmented with a familiar palpitating bounce and quiver, is probably the straightest of these tracks and, as such, the least rewarding. Perseus builds around an airy top line and breakbeat, then darkens, before soft Computer Love-esque pads cut through, squaring off in satisfyingly joyous flutter.

These tracks are encircled by three essentially unnamed pieces. All three are a little looser and more breathable, but each is distinct and evocative: ICO130 a mournful android’s lament, NGC1275 like a 3-D rendering of some classical landscape painting.

If Safe/Multiply was the sign of Greenwood nailing his club tracks, then this is where the potential shown on his early A-sides and LP comes home. All of that delicious dust and spacious leeway we’ve come to expect is enhanced, and by shifting the responsibility for the essence of the songs from man to machine, the melodies cut through in a way Ghost Culture promised but didn’t quite pull off.

Theo Kotz