Shaun Ryder
Close The Dam/Electric Scales
Out Now.
Confession/confusion: Shaun Ryder taught us to dance. It’s a bit hazy now, of course, but there’s about ten club tunes we just can’t resist and he has made two of them. Three now, actually. It’s been a lonnng journey, with many great records and a great many good times.
“Bigger than you is”
All of which makes Close The Dam more remarkable. It had us hooked inside 20 seconds: that strut, that slinky come-hither groove. Just a hint of Billie Jean perhaps? Producer Sunny Levine is Quincy Jones’ grandson, so maybe that is not so far-fetched.
“Bigger than you is”
What a tune, though. Shaun sounds more focussed than…than ever, really. Close The Dam is something new from him, a little bit future. A spare but insistent club track with the sort of lyrics that burn themselves into your mind. Instant classic. Big.
“Bigger than you is”
Electric Scales rewinds the clock a little. If you half close your eyes, its dirty squalls almost drift towards Squirrel & G-Man’s choppy waters. Almost. Until you realise just what is going down in the layered and loping production. It plays harder than Close The Dam but wears its heart on its sleeve and, if you roll with the punches, you can feel it beating.
“Bigger than you ARE”
Coming in low, out of the rain; nobody will see this coming. Admit it: 2015 is full of surprises.