“DIY as fuck,” said dub ambassador Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin when asked to describe Miss Red’s Murder project. And it’s this crudely unabridged appraisal that nutshells the working relationship between Martin and Miss Red – the Israeli MC who’s become a staple of The Bug’s greatest live shows. On the track Mi Lost from The Bug’s 2014 album Angels & Devils, Miss Red’s patois provided an eerily enticing element to Martin’s heavy riddim mangling. Here, the pair dismantle familiar components of dancehall and ragga and realign them in their own ‘DIY as fuck’ form.

Murder’s ballistic gush of acid ragga took a year to collate, but it contorts quicker than the glock of a pistol. With beats borrowed from Evian Christ, Mumdance and Andy Stott, Miss Red is permitted the audible room required for her to vocally brutalise bars. Staggered riddims braced with Martin’s signature bass inflections act as perfect undercurrents for the hiccupy delivery. Pace is paramount to Miss Red. She has this uncanny knack of recoiling around percussive offbeats. It takes a pitiless control of character to not vocally overplay or overindulge with the riddim constructions. And while the final product is something of a collaborative achievement aided by truly capable producers with dancehall affiliated identities, Miss Red remains the star of Murder throughout. A much-needed full length from one of the most charismatic performers on the underground live circuit.

Listen to Murder via her website here.