On the back of a successful release with Hot Creations, Minéo is set to drop a brand new EP entitled ‘Ghju Lia’ via Hypercolour next month.
Minéo is the latest project from Tom Dinsdale. Formerly one half of loud and proud British bass-heads, Audio Bullys, Tom is back with a new solo project, in which Hypercolour sees a bright future. With an array of influences, from hip hop, to grime, garage, house and dub, Audio Bullys – alongside acts like Basement Jaxx, the Streets and Groove Armada – rode the crest of a wave that swept over the UK music scene and beyond around the turn of the millennium, achieving huge crossover success.
The new incarnation of Dinsdale draws from similar influences, but updated and without the now super-dated Brit Pop/Garage MC (think Blur vs. Mike Skinner) lyrical hybrid overlays.
First up on the EP, ‘Get It Cracking’ is dominated by a flabby, slurring bassline. A drifting clarinet noire and piano build up with a brass ensemble and the vocal samples to then drop back out to the weighty bass. The female vocal cuts have a definite garage aesthetic but with a modern deep house touch.
‘Are You Sick’ shares some of the same pitched-down vocal samples as the previous track. It builds and swells, distorting and contorting to clear out to the atmospheric, intangible chatter of a male and female vocal over the semi-acoustic groove.
‘My Style’ is what you might consider the most ‘on trend’, with a crossover R&B and 808 feel with added breaks. The female vocal over the top works well but it’s hard to escape from the track’s similarity to Breech’s ‘Jack’; except My Style has far less, well, jack.
What it does have though is bags of British, big-beat authenticity. The kind the likes of Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers paved the way for in the late ’90s early ’00s. There’s also plenty of tension from a sub-low break down before it gets back into business with those descending base notes.
‘In This Era’ adds the finishing touches. Big sounds and vocal chops with plenty of low-end and LFO. Sparse synth blips and swollen basses punctuate a lively and well-constructed final track on the EP.
Shitloads of heavy bass and rhythmical vocal cuts, all with an indica vibe – deep, mellow, body highs – make for a promising release that at times packs a powerful punch. Probably not much crossover or big club appeal but an interesting composition nonetheless and we’re intrigued to see how the former Audio Bully’s sound continues to develop from here. The Ghju Lia EP proves that technical ability was never in question.
‘Ghju Lia’ is available via Beatport on the 17th of February.
[lbg_audio1_html5 settings_id=’35’]
