Mount Kimbie

Often credited with having kick-started the "post-dubstep" genre, UK-based duo Mount Kimbie could have easily taken the opportunity to live in the space between possibility and predictability, giving in to the constraints of genre labels and the sound that launched their career. Thankfully on second album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, they've decided to leave no sonic door unopened. Moving away from the ambient, voiceless soundscapes of their debut, Crooks and Lovers, the new record filters elements of hip-hop, fuzzed-out indie rock, jazz and house through the band's peculiar aesthetic, to mesmerizing effect. Album opener "Home Recording" begins with a jarring horn stab before settling into a fuzzed-out R&B groove, with Kai Campos' fragile vocals lulling you into a false sense of security. "You Took Your Time," one of two songs to feature King Krule, is a slow simmer of hazy hip-hop that eventually boils over into a growling punk prayer. "Blood and Form" lulls around, bleeping and buzzing with a beat that sounds like the striking of a large, empty margarine tub. "Made to Stray," one of the album's standout tracks, weaves together minimalist textures, a Canada goose-like horn section and a solid house hook to satisfy both the body and mind. There's a new found confidence on display throughout Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, not only with the addition of vocals from both band members and guest stars, but in the musical palette being used. Nothing is off the table, influences are blended and bounced off each other, and it's this tension between elements that makes this a very special record. Keep those doors open, Mount Kimbie, we'll happily walk through.