Originally lumped in with dub- and brostep thanks to their initial Hotflush connection, Mount Kimbie helped pioneer the genre’s move into airier and more melodic areas, recalling Mouse on Mars’ post-rock excursions of the 1990s. Now on Warp, their latest release sounds as if they’re searching for an audience without desiring to give it what it wants. The approach is transitional and frustratingly transactional; perhaps a live setting will give it a better airing. Opener Seams does for tech-house what Mount Kimbie was doing for dubstep in their early work.
Originally published in issue #121, November 2013.