LHF — the semi-anonymous London collective composed of Amen Ra, Double Helix, Low Density Matter, Lumin Project, and No Fixed Abode — are synonymous with the Dusk and Blackdown Keysound imprint that has released all of their previous four releases. The last of these records, the seminal sinogrime-meets-meditative-yet-antsy-dubstep album Keepers of the Light — incidentally one of Blackdown’s favorite records, which has been banned from his car due to the frequency it was played — was released way back in 2012, a hefty break for active musicians nowadays, which had me (and I’m sure many other ardent believers) pondering what had happened to them, given how well they were received.
Thankfully, they make a welcome return to the Keysound fold with their new EP4 release, a four-track slab of weighty goodness made in collaboration with the indomitable Ragga Twins, who blessed the production team with four previously unheard a capellas, culled from their vaults, fitting their partner’s vibe and ethos perfectly.
LHF have always managed to stay away from being branded with the dubstep tag. Their rhythms are more complex, rolling and bouncy, more indebted to London’s Hardcore Continuum past than most of their peers. This characteristics are brought into even sharper focus on their new release, with the EP’s fluid, syncopated rhythms taking center stage and driving the record forward, even reminding me at points of early-era Horsepower Productions tracks (always a good thing).
As with their previous work, the collective mesh their dark, garage-y tendencies with ethic percussion and undulating slabs of low-end pressure. The big difference between this and their other releases is the fantastic vocalization of their sound by the Ragga Twins, which really elevates the music. It adds a human, rave-ready, fire-starting touch to the proceedings, with their fast, double-time, post- apocalyptic, carnival-esque delivery perfectly complementing the end-of-world beats.
We have an exclusive premiere of the bleep- and bass-influenced track “2000 Dust,” a tune that unites dubwise sentimentalities with London’s ethnically diverse musical heritage and LHF’s trademark dread-infused sound palette.
Take a listen below! The EP is out on Keysound on June 1.
• Keysound: http://keysoundrecordings.co.uk
More about: Double Helix, LHF
