London producer Ikonika has released her new six track EP Hollow on Hyperdub. The relationship between her and label has been quite fruitful over the years since "Millie" in 2008, plus three albums Contact, Love Want, Have in 2010, Aerotropolis in 2013 and Distractions in 2017.
The EP takes a turn away from her heavier techno productions and towards dancehall, grime and UK drill and that is evident from the outset. “Kicks Count” mixes bouncing dancehall with some heavy kickdrums into a song that would work for a theoretical dancefloor (stop the plague raves) in quite a different few markets.
The EP then gets more subdued and melodic with levitating synth melodies over pitter-pattering and hollow drum beats on “Hollow,” before getting into the UK drill part of the project with haunting, rising synths and rolling 808s. That sound then gets turned up a bit into “A-Void” as the styles and sorts of sounds start to blend together with tougher beats as the EP comes to its conclusion on “Terminus.” The booming kicks rest under echoing synths that play off of each other like two footballers on a give and go.
Pick up your copy of the EP on Bandcamp and elsewhere here and stream it all below.
