October: 10 dubstep & grime releases you need to hear this month

Gundam 'Waifu' (Self-release)

Sweetboy, wifey-grime specialist Gundam has worked hard to elevate his re-fixing skills to a level he feels confident enough to explore in album format. ‘Waifu’, at 15-tracks long, follows 2015’s ‘Nyoubou’ and a recent debut for London taste-makers Goon Club Allstars, and feels like a level up from both. The giddy, sugar-rush of opener ‘Oh Girl’ is a good insight into what’s to come, although the bright textures on tracks ‘Just Like U’ and ‘Luv Me Lady’ tap more into the Soulection palette than they do up-front grime. It’s not all 8-bar chops either: there’s the tripped-out funk of ‘Evening Glow’, chiptune heartbreak on ‘Heaven Sent’ and bonkers calypso on ‘Bikini Beach’. It’s not your average album, but ‘Waifu’ is the work of a producer intent on doing his own thing – and doing it really well.

8/10