No Artificial Colours - The Menace

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  • No Artificial Colours have recently rocked up on PMR, the pop-leaning dance label Disclosure and Jessie Ware call home. If this hints that Ryan Ellis and Lewis Wright believe they have a future beyond the world of retro-leaning underground house, then the Londoners' return to MadTech suggests they're not ready to fully commit just yet. Lead track "The Menace" thunders along wearing its Jersey-garage badges with pride, with hi-hats skipping like a six-year-old out of the school gates and the kind of stabbing hardcore synths that would have echoed around Ministry of Sound circa 1993. The muted approach of "Hypnotize" is more appetizing, pushing a rich, elasticated bassline to the fore and a jabbing keyboard phrase that revels in its simplicity. "Hawk" is cut from a similar cloth, although the ravey keys return. Ellis and Wright's crisp production gives things a professional sheen, but overall the EP is more clinically efficient than emotive.
  • Tracklist
      01. The Menace 02. Hawk 03. Hypnotize
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