Following a brief quiet spell prior to 2021, Dread Or Dead Records have really come back with a bang this year and have since presented state of the art releases from Ninety and Duckem that I’ve still got in rotation to this day. For their next instalment, the label welcomes back long standing H&B favourite, B-Say, to the label with three of his more emblematic productions and a killer remix courtesy of Lampa! After a short stint of bright and bold dub influenced productions on the likes of Dirty Beats earlier this year, B-Say‘s back to his dark side and for me, his strongest side, as demonstrated on today’s premiere, ‘Sabotage‘.
The leading track ‘Drips‘ rightly takes centre stage on the release, one that’s unique and wriggles like an ear worm. Like a tap on acid, percussive drips dance with energy across solid porcelain-like subs, carving a fluid and infectious groove that B-Say always seems to achieve. Then we have today’s premiere ‘Sabotage‘, where B-Say goes minimal. Gone are the busy, rhythmic SFX and in are the odd extra-terrestrial snarl, clean drum fills and ghostly chord stabs that occasionally rise like a beam of light through the shadows. Bouncing through thudding double kicks and dizzy oscillating FX, ‘Fabric Stairs‘ provides the powerful dancefloor roller of the EP, before Manchester’s Lampa puts his dark spaced-out spin on ‘Sabotage‘, adding some juice to the subs and throwing in some mid-range madness that takes the track from alien contact to alien warfare.
For those familiar with B-Say‘s productions, you’ll know all about those giant earthquake stomps that never fail to test the subs. However, alongside his dub-wise excursions, ‘Drips‘ EP provides yet another twist to B-Say‘s repertoire, one that relies on infectious grooves that can be found in minimalism and, like much of Dread Or Dead‘s growing catalogue, the sort of enveloping darkness that runs through the diverse tapestry of contemporary dubstep.
‘Drips’ EP is now exclusively available to download here and everywhere else on 23/07/2021.
Check out B-Say on Soundcloud and Instagram.
Check out Dread Or Dead Records on Soundcloud and Instagram.
