Hi5Ghost becomes Wu Yen

The Bristol based producer launches a new alias via Papercranes.

There’s no doubt that Kahn & Neek helped create a focus for the more progressive strains of grime emanating out of Bristol when they launched their Bandulu label in a hailstorm of raucous bass stabs on “Percy” back in 2012. The mammoth success of that release mirrored a wider affection swelling up for grime and grime-influenced sounds from all over, and since Bandulu has played host to a fair few artists operating outside of the usual limelight cast on Bristol. From Sector 7 boss Boofy through to lesser-known talents Oatz and Breen, the intermittent label has continued to be one worth watching for fresh developments. One of the stand out operators from within this scene is surely Hi5Ghost, who stepped out with the Kung Fu Kick 12” on Bandulu back in 2014. He’s also appeared on Sector 7 and joined in with the highly limited HLM Dubplate project curated by Kahn, credited as part of Bandulu Gang.

Hi5Ghost first appeared on Paper Cranes alongside Trends with the Duppy Maker / Teflon single, and now he returns to the label with a new project that sees him branching out into exciting new territory. Wu Yen comes to life with the Noire E.P., comprised of five tracks that deal in all kinds of moods still aligned to bassweight production but not limited by it. “Waterfalls” is a gem with its reversed piano lines over lazy drums, while “IWH – Soda Water” is a stand out with its slow-stalking dread strings. Intriguingly, the EP is set to be released on USB, featuring a sample pack as well as a bonus Wu Yen track, but for now you can stream the whole thing below. We reached out to Hi5Ghost to find out about the intention for this new project, and he had this to say;

“The whole purpose behind the new alias is so that I can make more music without rules even though I love making grime and dubstep. I don’t wanna limit myself to what I think people want me to make. Admittedly the whole creation of this EP has been the most fun I’ve had making music in a while. I spent a good two weeks recording and making samples from scratch before starting any of the tracks just so that every song is relatable to each other.”

Paper Cranes will release Noire E.P. by Wu Yen in August.

Tracklisting:

1. Noire
2. Waterfalls
3. IWH – Soda Water
4. Gaints – WLIO
5. Hate