- The dubstep-producer-goes-house narrative is no longer novel, but coming from Sheffield native Oris Jay—AKA Darqwan, one of the dark garage progenitors whose sound eventually turned into dubstep—the new RS4 project does carry some weight. But more than anything it feels like Jay attempting to make a comeback after 2012's largely unnoticed ...To The Fly. It's a welcome move. Hexagons isn't perfect, but it shows he's still got the ear for drum programming that made his best work so addictive.
Landing in irresistibly funky patterns, "Leap Of Faith" is an effortless hybrid like only Jay can do, touching on peak UK garage and UK funky. Complete with a beefy bassline and wafting vocals from Iviee Mercutio, it sounds like a lost classic, and it's easily the best track here. "Let Go," on the other hand, tries too hard to sound like current UK clubland, with its plodding drums and listlessly repeating chord progression. "Station House" does it better, with its lilting percussion and springy handclaps. But taking lines from 4Hero's bad-trip classic "Mr. Kirk's Nightmare," it turns hallucinatory and dark, referencing the hardcore DNA embedded in the current strains of bass-heavy UK house.
Jay gets even more referential with "The Massive," which samples his 2000 garage hit "Biggin Up Da Massive." But where the original was scene-defining, this one feels like it's playing catch-up, with more bomp-bomp-bomp basslines in a template that doesn't do much with them. It's an unnecessary moment of reflection on an EP that otherwise sees Jay look ahead.
Tracklist01. The Massive
02. Leap Of Faith
03. Station House
04. Let Go