2562

The degree to which dubstep has proliferated around the world since its first international rumblings in 2006 is a mighty indication that the genre is no longer a passing fad but the widespread acceptance of a new way of both producing dub music and evolving the low-end priorities of two-step and garage. With the release of Aerial, the debut album by the Hague’s 2562 (aka Dave Huismans), the argument could be made that dubstep is now entering a middle period of clubification, in which the genre’s open-sourced experimentation has been passed down to a new generation of non-Brits who are mining the genre exclusively for its nightclub potential. This is both a good and bad thing, and listening to Aerial will raise this conflict in many long-time dubstep followers. 2562 utilises an aggressive and textbook approach to the smoke-filled tendencies of the genre, following in the more club-oriented footsteps of Loefah and Skream. But there’s also an unshakeable aura of refinement going on in which few new ideas are being developed at all. 2562 stands to reap the current popularity of dubstep, and rightly so, but one can’t help but wonder: are the innovative years of the genre are now slowing down into predictability?