As is increasingly the case with new artists these days, Nguzunguzu’s music can be fiendishly tricky to pin down. In past releases – most notably on Nigh Slugs US sister label Fade To Mind – the reference points come thick and fast: chart hip hop and RnB, the remorseless syncopations of footwork, 8 bar grime’s playful brutality. ‘Smoke Alarm’, as the title suggests, riffs on eardrum-scraping siren samples, fragmented and looped over an intimidating percussive skeleton. It’s an unsettling combination, but one that walks the line between dancefloor functionalism and the more esoteric concerns of much of the Hippos In Tanks roster with consummate ease.
The track – which you can listen to below – is taken from the Warm Pulse EP, due out on Hippos In Tanks on 3rd July. Keep your eyes trained on the site for an Escape Velocity feature on Nguzunguzu in the coming weeks.
