- This is Marquis Hawkes' second EP for Houndstooth, after the superb Fifty Fathoms Deep. Where that one was brimming with disco and soul-inflected warmth, Raw Materials is, for the most part, a return to the raw jack-tracks of his work for Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and Clone Jack For Daze.
Despite its name, "Raw Materials" is actually the most plushly adorned, easy-going track on the EP. Its dreamy pads and vocal murmurs swaddle a 119 BPM spine of tinkling toms and slow-mo snares. "'Ave That" and "Jerk U Later" are, by contrast, unabashedly sparing. They feel like the real meat of the release. The former adds bee-swarm bass and a looping vocal to its chalk-dry drums, while the latter's ravey mesh of bare drums and squalling keys are like something Kowton might have written to soundtrack a fairground ride. Though more Fifty Fathoms-style material would be welcome at some point, these stripped-back tracks are are hitting the spot for now.
TracklistA1 Raw Materials
B1 Ave That
B2 Jerk U Later