- Overdue is a prelude to Matt Edwards' debut album as Radio Slave, but its two very different tracks don't tell us much about how it might sound. The EP presents two sides of the Radio Slave project: the well-known techy approach, plus the retro streak that surfaced on Children Of The E. Both are slickly executed.
"The Revenge," a homage to old London clubs like Rage, hits harder than Edwards' last retro outing. The drum break is big and satisfying, and once the rude bassline hits, it catches the groove—albeit tougher than usual—that Edwards is famous for. It pulls old-school sounds into the Radio Slave universe, making Edwards' stiff repetition bang even harder. The more conventional "The Reverse" isn't as exciting, though its ten-minute stretch of throbbing techno is a lesson in economy. Every new element—the crispy handclaps, the reedy synth lead—hits with outsized impact, recalling Robert Hood in the way its skeletal arrangement sounds massive. Edwards' music as Radio Slave might not have changed much over the past decade, but it doesn't need to.
TracklistA The Revenge
B The Reverse