Manchester based Walton returns to Hyperdub for a three-track EP that contains the shiniest, most colourful dancefloor numbers the label has released so far this year (aside perhaps from Scratcha DVA’s album, but I’m still kinda un-decided on that one; sue me if you think I’m wrong).
The bright synth melodies of the title cut evoke memories of Bristol’s purple period from a few years back, jacked up and laid over a deliriously cut up rhythm that is pure energy. The influences from UK Funky are plain to see, yet what’s most remarkable is how Walton avoids any obvious pitfalls - instead pillaging a range of Funky’s trademark sounds and tropes and putting them back together into a much more entertaining whole. “Mallet”, for its part, makes clever use of a tropical percussion riff to propel itself forward. Shiny melodies, however, are swapped for a more hypnotic lead that unfortunately makes the whole thing feel a little more obvious in a sense, though it still has plenty of dancefloor appeal. The EP closes with the much shorter “Kush”, which comes across as a totally blissed out hip hop jam with the perfect amount of stoner approach. In fact “Kush” is possibly my favourite thing on this EP, like an ode to West Coast sunshine from under the grey skies of Manchester. If Walton feels like doing a hip hop EP next, I certainly won’t object in the slightest.
As always Hyperdub stamps its seal of quality over a 12” that deserves your time if you like dance music that doesn’t beat around the bush. Forward, as they used to say.
