Kid Adrift – Oxytocin EP

Variously described as “a dubsteppy Muse” and “the new Mylo” by lazy mothers, Clackmannanshire’s Kid Adrift could be a mess or a gifted prodigy. Studiously mixing shades of dubstep and emo (careful now) on his unlikely palette, the Oxytocin EP reassuringly nods to the latter.

The title track’s segue from mechanised industrial clatter to an orchestral swoon might sound like a man’s brain on the brink of implosion at first, but full immersion points to a future in scoring scenes of mild peril. Crash Therapy is a more up-tempo mining of similar territory to its predecessor, but the last track here is the killer. Piano meets machine on Static, evoking a hungry Liam Howlett – but it sounds like a sketch of something greater. [Bob Morton]