- There are conflicting flavours at work in Leo James's machine-disco morsels. Last year's 12-inch for Vienna's Neubau was savoury and stern; an EP for London's Berceuse Heroique was more sweet and sentimental. The former, with its hints of post-punk and industrial, is the more enticing taste, but James can't seem to strike the latter from the menu. (It echoes the neo-disco he used to make in the duo Canyons.) The sweetness persists on this return to the Melbourne producer's own Body Language label, where it mixes with a swill of other flavours that sit oddly on the tongue.
The spicy "Punishment" starts the EP well. Its minimalist choreography of conga, kick drum and pulsing low-end, eventually nailed down by a backbeat snare, is James at his best. The forlorn singing that roams the midrange stays just the right side of melodrama. The same can't be said of "Steel Eater," which opens with the same taut funk but plods its way into disco pomposity. The real misstep, though, is "Capital." This is James's ode to the resurgent socialism of Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn. It's not a bad hill to die on, but die he does, clumsily splicing Sanders and Tony Benn soundbites with a clunky electro beat and hands-in-the-air piano chords. James can do better than this sickly-sweet sentiment.
Tracklist01. Punishment
02. Steel Eater
03. Capital