Ramadanman/ Midland – Your Words Matter More Than You Know review

A collaborative effort between long term friends Ramadanman (of Hessle Audio fame), and fellow producer Midland, this release sees the pair blend garage, dubstep and house into a fresh, free-thinking cut, with oodles of simmering soulfulness and deep contemplation. As with any release on Will Saul and Ninja Tune stalwart, Fink’s Aus Music imprint, the music tiptoes between genres, focusing on a cutting edge, leftfield vibe, where deep basslines predominate and new territories are explored with great aplomb.

“Your Words Matter”, the first track of the EP, begins with a soft-yet-punchy, purposeful drumbeat, sparse hissing SFX and a reverberating, screaming vocal snippet. A gently building textured soundscape is created, slowly evolving into a palette of crescendo-ing, slightly vintage sounding piano keys, deep bass and a vocal-led melody. It’s a track that is constantly moving on to new things, touching on deep house in the mid section and finishing with a minimal, garage-like bassline and dark, humming tones.

Likewise, with “More Than You Know”, on the flip, the sense of metamorphosis and progression is almost palpable. Contrasting hollow, dribbling, watery sounds with a knocking, thumping, tribal-sounding drum in the intro, the track weaves around sounds, samples and rhythmic patterns. The pair make great use of eerie, indistinguishable sampling, juxtaposing organic sounds with industrial machinations to create a sense of unease – reminiscent of Sabre’s “A Wandering Journal”. Yet this unsettling feeling translates itself into a profoundly felt piece of music. The shuffling rhythm drives things along fluidly and to experience it at it’s best you have to let yourself drift along with it. Twinkling, shimmering moments emerge as we approach the end, with the hissing beats contrasting with a dramatic, threatening noise in the background, which eventually takes over.

Review: Belinda Rowse