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

Various 'HOS015' (Hear Other Sounds)

London’s Hear Other Sounds makes its first leap to wax on ‘HOS015’, a four-track salvo courtesy of label affiliates Scalade, Nights, Charlux, Fresh Paul and J-One. Scalade and Nights join forces on the gorgeous freeze-dried opener ‘Stasis’, which draws on elements of trap and grime with a solid atmospheric pull, while Charlux channels his inner eskiboy on ‘Chanel Handbag’: think growling bass tones, timely eski flutes and trickling, bleepy FX. Elsewhere on the release, Fresh Paul – who was responsible for one of our favourite instrumental grime EPs of 2014 – goes in hard on ‘Janet Again’, a snarling, off-kilter journey through a mixture of classic grime sounds, rasping bass, haunting atmospherics and skewed melodies. Finally, closing track ‘The Fever’ rounds off a really strong 12” as J-One brings two-step swing into the mix, only with moodier arrangements and a thumping bassline.

8/10