Rudi Zygadlo – Tragicomedies

Any artist whose press release describes their music as ‘pop for people who read’ (cuz, like, Beyoncé is aight but she’ll never understand Joyce the way Rudi does...) is always going to be fighting an uphill battle against this particular hack, but Zygadlo has the sense to frontload his album with intoxicating tracks like Melpomene and Russian Dolls – a devestating slice of future pop that features an exquisitely treated vocal performance. They illustrate that Zygadlo is at his best when he focuses on quality vocal hooks and (relatively) straightforward compositions.

That said, it too often feels like Zygadlo falls in love with his own production chops, which owe much to the glitchy rhythms of Jackson and His Computer Band and the ultra-mannered IDM stylings of Tim Exile. So we end up with, on the one hand, over-complex snoozers like Catharine, and on the other, Tragicomedy – which sounds like Vic Reeves singing James Blake in his 'club style.'