- From what we've seen so far, Bristol's Kahn can do two things: eyes-down DMZ-style dubstep and garage that's poppy as all hell. Thankfully, he does both of them exceedingly well. "Angeles," released on Soul Motive's new white label series (if you can pick out the vocal sample, you'll understand why), is by far the catchiest thing he's done since his debut on Punch Drunk with "Like We Used To"—in fact, it's even catchier.
Built on a jaunty organ riff so saccharine it makes Pure Garage look dour, "Angeles" is absolutely saturated with vocals. They're expertly hacked and cleavered in Kahn's usual style, but he slathers the track with every last fragment of the vocal he's working with, occasionally erupting into full phrases. It's easy enough to recognize, and it's bound to get stuck in your head for days, but the whole thing is so pop it would be easy enough to fall victim to its deranged happiness. Luckily, Kahn weighs the whole thing down with a meaty kick drum, avoiding forgettably floaty SoundCloud garage territory.
Fellow Bristolian Superisk comes in on the remix, and he switches up "Angeles"' '90s bliss with big, dramatic synth overtures. He also throws down some pounding, irregular kick drums, turning "Angeles" from a loopy banger into constantly ascending triumph, putting a welcome new spin on what already feels like an indelible anthem.
Tracklist A Angeles
B Angeles (Superisk Remix)