Zomby’s last LP, 2013’s With Love, was a 33 track double album which suggested little desire to capitalise on the promotional power of his then label 4AD.

With fragments of eski grime, jungle, trap and classical samples smothered in a kind of aural grey mist, the album was an erratic and poignant collection of sketches with pretty much zero crossover potential. It may have been hard to digest as a whole, but in his refusal to follow the rules musically, Zomby has always carried a sense of integrity.

Now Zomby has delivered this disparate two parter via XL, exploring dangerously familiar and curiously contrary territory across its two parts.

EP 1 explores uncovered ground for Zomby, as he provides a cluster of house tracks with genuine dance floor functionality (with intros missing and outros sliced off, many of Zomby’s previous tracks have been notoriously difficult to mix). The stuttered beat breaking of EP 2, on the other hand, heralds Zomby’s archetypal trademarks. The blinkered synth sampling and corrupted snare work certainly displays a degree of dexterity, but this time it sounds like he’s got a larger audience in mind.

EP 1 shows that Zomby has a new trick up his sleeve, and those who’ve found his previous work slightly too jarring will relish his new found clarity on EP 2. But although these tracks prove that Zomby’s past lo-fidelity was an aesthetic choice rather than amateurism, an element of rogue charm has been lost now that he’s cleaned up his act.