These drum'n'bass guys like to talk tough, but mostly there's only two things they want to do - take you on a trip and make you dance.
On Killing Me Softly, SKC does both with refreshing ease. This is the 32-year-old's debutalbum. It's released on Commercial Suicide, the label owned by British drum'n'bass bigwig Klute. He might sound a little old to be releasing his first album, but never fear, there's a maturity to his music that's brought out in the variety he puts into each track.
He's big on atmosphere, with tranquil build-ups throughout, tinkling xylophone (Until the Break of Dawn), and there's world-music vocal moments such as the warbling on opener Dream Come True.
But it doesn't take long to move into a more fortified mode as Offguard Remix hits out with rolling beats and stealth squelches, and the big and bold beats of Never Again start pounding.
It's tracks like these that give you the feeling that SKC doesn't act his age and that there's still some of that badly needed drum'n'bass mongrel rearing to get out.
Don't be surprised if this album has you thrashing your head and waving your arms in the air when you're on the bus, walking down the street, or wherever you are when you feel like a drum'n'bass fix.
Verdict: There's nothing like a drum'n'bass trip for your head, man
