SBTRKT – The Rat Road
The Rat Road is a wondrous and playful musical sketchbook that takes the SBTRKT sonic blueprint and builds something lasting
SBTRKT’s now-iconic mask started as a way to put all focus on the music. With that anonymity, electronic producer Aaron Jerome could avoid any preconceptions people might have when looking at him. But surrounded by a strong gang of collaborators in Little Dragon, Jessie Ware and Sampha, it also led to a kind of voicelessness.
Six years since his last record, he’s far away from needing the mask. The Rat Road is a wondrous and playful musical sketchbook that takes the SBTRKT sonic blueprint and builds something lasting. He’s used his time away to explore. The Rat Road is unrestrained. It plays like a classic beat tape, albeit with refined, expensive-sounding production. It’s soaked in nocturnal UK dance sounds, wistful piano and a deep emotional pull.
There are plenty of great guest contributions, like his longtime collaborator Sampha and fresh talents like George Riley, who both nail their vocal contributions on single L.F.O. But all of these guests are characters in a well-directed whole. The scrappy organ interlude Rain Crush and the eerie human horror story Coppa are just as important. In doing so, it reveals the voice that was always there.
Listen to: Demons, L.F.O.