Major Grave – Looking Forward
Label and release date: Sulk. (2013)
Grime’s producers have often outdone the work of their MC counterparts when it comes to quality, and it’s not unusual to come across an instrumental album or EP that bests the work of many vocal releases. Looking Forward is one of those EPs: quality is maintained from start to finish.
Major Grave manages to handle each track with the care that many grime classics were born out of along with the aggression that defines the genre, but he is not a newbie. His remix of Dexplicit’s Bullacake and his mash up of JME’s If You Don’t Know vocal with his own Paramedics instrumental are clear indicators of experience and talent.
The titular track, Looking Forward, has to be listened to in order to be fully appreciated. It’s one of the best tracks on the EP as well as something bigger: a perfect example of the best grime has to offer. It’s already been praised for its emotional undertone, which helps make it a victim of the repeat button. Loving You is on the aggressive end of the spectrum but is still pleasantly distinctive due to its intimate, female vocal snippets. Part Ways starts off as the cooling down area of the EP but changes within a minute to a track suitable for the soundtrack of a blockbuster. The calming moment is in New Eire, which is the least powerful track on the EP but still has enough flare to maintain the standard set by the previous songs.
Major Grave deserves recognition not only because of the quality of his EP, but because it’s been a while since something this good has appeared within the genre.
Overall, it’s impressive how a relatively unknown producer has created work that overshadows much done by other popular beatsmiths. All that’s left now is to wait and see if Major Grave can continue this success in later releases.
- Reasons to listen to: a good chance to hear grime at its finest, and the artwork is neat too.
- Where to get: Bandcamp.
To listen to more Major Grave visit here
Have you heard Looking Forward? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments
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