Review Summary: Exactly how a grime release on Planet Mu should sound.
Grime is a genre the mainstream are taking their time coming round to, and Mr. Mitch puts a lot of effort into speeding up the process. He isn't the only one: Fatima Al Qadiri's recent album
Asiatisch on Hyperdub helped introduce an admittedly stylised version of grime to the label's fanbase. The contributions of Flow Dan, also on Hyperdub, Logos and Plastician have been equally as crucial in helping the genre evolve beyond its original scene of Channel U videos and melodies straight from the trial version of Fruity Loops. Mr. Mitch himself has maintained an impressive release schedule since he began in 2010, as well as founding and directing a host of projects including his instrumental label Gobstopper.
As grime limps on from the police crackdown in London, this instrumental evolution is one of its main lifelines. Mitch's previous efforts include a slow, meditative edit of Wiley classic 'Eskimo' and a lighter collection
Searching, which proved he wasn't afraid to branch out from grime's characteristic 'griminess' and embrace a much more melodic, even chirpy sound. The beginning of this year gave us
The Room Where I Belong: a return to the deep, rumbling grime aesthetic with an improved sense of melody to boot.
Don't Leave is Mitch's first release on Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu label, and a taster for a debut LP scheduled for next month. It sees Mitch meet the label halfway: pushing out instrumental beats with soul, but with hints of busy, circuit-board-gone-wrong and ambient elements reminiscent of Mike's early work as u-Ziq. In 'Be Somebody', Mitch takes what could be a quintessential grime melody and, like the scientist playing God, rearranges it to make a distant, android-like echo where bleeps replace the full squelches of the past. Add some hauntingly placed diva-esque vocal loops, occasional distorted surge and beats you can almost step to, and you have what can best be described as an eclectic crowd pleaser.
Similar vocal sampling occurs on the title track, though here the short vocal loop serves as a foundation for Mitch to build his sluggish crescendo. 'Padded' is somewhat more sinister: vocal-less with a drum track slowly swapping between a kick drum and a crunch, and alarm-like synths wailing over the tune's main melody. Mitch ends with 'Oh', which holds a bit more swagger, drifts over to the witch-house side of the pitch-shifting spectrum and would probably come high up on a list of 'songs to close your eyes and step to at a poorly lit basement rave'.
If Mr. Mitch was deliberately trying to solidify grime's place among the most interesting movements today, he could not have done a much better job.
Don't Leave is the genre playing around with well established electronic trends while still maintaining its characteristic feel. Mr. Mitch has branched out to other musical spheres on regular occasions, but not as successfully as here; we have a lot to look forward to in December if he keeps this up.
