Young Smoke – Space Zone

The latest of Planet Mu’s footwork signings, Young Smoke’s approach differs in two distinct ways to the likes of Traxman or Chrissy Murderbot – his work is more melodic than most footwork productions, with a preponderance for woozy, psychedelic synths, vocal samples and rhythmic stabs which build into coherent, 3-minute blasts of infectious dance music like Believe In Me.

Secondly, he has tagged on a conceptual framework – rather than sounding like minimal jungle or sped-up funk, the sonic palette of Space Zone is heavily dominated by science fiction synth sounds. Destroy Him My Robots features a synth line that resembles the self-destruct sequence from Alien, with rhythmic stabs that sound like pressure doors closing. The result is a polished, high-concept album that uses the 160bpm template of footwork as a launchpad for a more cerebral voyage through inner and outer space. Not just for feet, then – perhaps this warrants a subgenre of its own... Brainwork.