South London housemates Surface and Ackroyd team up for their vinyl debut and deliver 3 cuts of razor-sharp breakbeat mastery.
Juno Records 'Single Of The Week' review 29/10/21.....
"Soul Intent has been running Dope Plates as a sublabel of Lossless Music since 2016, focusing on a more 90s-flavoured strain of junglism in contrast to the steely modernism of the bigger imprint. It’s played host to a number of deep cover break slicers n’ dicers in that time, including the likes of Sicknote, Chromatic and Acid_Lab. There’s a certain moody authenticity to the label, not least thanks to the killer label design by Art Jazz from Genaside II, and they’re clearly cultivating a community of artists away from the hype of established names, solely focusing on the quality of the sound.
Next up on Dope Plates is Surface, aka London’s George Coll, making their vinyl debut here following previous spots on Structured and other digital labels. The vibe across The Water Copy EP is dark and restrained, matching minimalism with needlepoint programming and artful atmospherics. It’s cinematic and edgy, which of course there’s plenty of in D&B, but there’s also a crunch to the drums, a tacit understanding of light and shade and a warmth in the low end which makes this record stand out. From ‘Ronin’s sparse tension to the quivering Amen science on the title track, it’s an assured and classy EP. Ackroyd, who seems to be a regular cohort of Surface elsewhere, also fuels this sense of intrigue and accomplishment with a version of ‘The Water Copy’ which leans on a different kind of rolling drum invention."
Source -
www.juno.co.uk/junodaily/2021/10/28/the-best-new-singles-this-week-35/
released October 1, 2021