5.4.09

Papa La Bas - Eternal Return EP

As a precursor to debut LP ‘Anechoic’ – due later this year – ‘Eternal Return’ catches Papa La Bas in an ambitious mood and offers an exciting glimpse into the dirty electro you can expect from their upcoming album. The dub and trip-hop influences evident from their earliest releases are now more refined, and the moody surrealism of tracks like ‘You Had It’ has them toe a thin line between UNKLE-esque breaks and the soulful melancholy of Morcheeba. The wistful reverb-laden lyricism of Suzi Ruthless – a less-husky Beth Gibbons – clings to keyboardist Dwyzak’s synth lines like a slipstream, while Duke01’s gruff rhymes (specifically in highlight ‘Jibba Jabba’) add another dimension to the already impressive, if brief, collection of tracks. Twenty-five minutes isn’t a long time to impress, but in just five tracks Papa La Bas have thrown down the gauntlet for a genre that ran out of steam a long time since.

MP3: Jibba Jabba

Out now.

www.myspace.com/papalabasuk

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