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Album reviews Music

Sepalcure

SEPALCURE play the Drake on December 27. See listing. Rating: NNNN


Three EPs heightened anticipation for a full-length project from Sepalcure, the cerebral rave piece from Machinedrum’s Travis Stewart and Praveen Sharma of Braille. Warm 90s house, quick-tempo Chicago juke, drummy, soca-inspired UK funky and dubstep esoterica coalesce on the self-titled record. Songs, though distinct, spill into each other, with heady euphoria tying it all together.

But the confluence of specific reference points isn’t just an exercise in gratuitous obscurity. The rhythmic switch-ups, varying bass notes and patterns, synth and percussive ephemera and clipped, airy vocal samples establish texture and nuance, slightly elevating Sepalcure above pure, straightforward floor-filling.

For all its noisier moments, like the dubby bounce of Yuh Nuh See and chanting, clanking build of Carrot Man, the album feels calibrated for multiple worlds: droning ambiently in the background or spilling out, shiny and loud, from club speakers.

Top track: Pencil Pimp

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