Minimal house architect Losoul returns with new album ‘Broken English Dubs’

Losoul pioneered the early minimal house sound on cult labels like Playhouse as far back as the mid-90s. He always operated on the principle that “atmosphere is often in the space between the sounds” and, over the last 30 years, has continually found new ways to explore and exploit this. He manages to make maximum impact from perfectly reduced sounds, often with challenging designs and an unusual mix of emotion and motion. His last album, ‘Island Time’, came out on Hypercolour in 2018, and this much-anticipated new one moves effortlessly between introspection and dancefloor energy.

‘Broken English Dubs’ is inspired by the idea of broken English as a universal language and explores non-verbal communication by colliding rhythm, texture and movement in ways that can be understood without words. The imaginative results explore fresh connections among different musical backgrounds – they are stripped back but full of detail and revel in stylistic contrasts between the rough and smooth, light and heavy, liquid and rigid.

Opener ‘Shake 3’ soon gets you locked into Losoul’s left-field sound world, with coarse percussion that sits loud in the mix, modulated acid lines lurking in the shadows, and a stringy, drawn-out rhythm keeping you on edge. ‘Cult Rodeo’ is like landing in a religiously fanatic ceremony being led by a corrupt preacher – a layered collage of gently looped drums and claps, warped vocal fragments and crashing stabs that mean you never settle in the ever-evolving groove. ‘No Jacks Given’ is nine minutes of irresistible kick-drum swing with a pushed-up, angry vocal ranting about what the grooves and basslines are promising and delivering. ‘Some Pals Were Sleepers’ is a deep dub-tech cavern with squealing electronic flashes, daubs of detuned synth and some empathy for those secretly unsatisfied. ‘The Peek-A-Boo Scratch’ rubs a caustic texture up against sparse bass. It’s an unsettling atmosphere with cautious melodic droplets before a slow, lumpy rhythm emerges to swallow you up from below. Closer ‘Trap Back’ is a succulent and immersive dub, turned around with muffled vocals coming from the room next door.