- Ryan Bonfield was one of the most exciting names in the dubstep-house crossover, sewing genres together with needlepoint precision. In 2013, he started nodding towards footwork with a free album and a strong 12-inch on somethinksounds, a direction that seemed promising until he went silent shortly after. Now he's back on Kerri Chandler's MadTech, a label associated with a UK sound known as deep tech—a term encompassing bass-heavy house that typically leans towards the homogenous and predictable, words you could unfortunately use to describe Who Knew Her.
Bonfield is a talented producer, and the chunky "Who Knew Her" is appealing. There's a growling bassline, bouncy kick drums and a clipped female vocal loop—it's something that a DJ like Mark Radford might play. And though "Who Knew Her" is perfunctory, the Artifact factor (which includes particularly husky low-end and a great sense of dynamics) is undeniably there, something that's thrown into sharp relief by Dale Howard's bland remix. "Letters" is more fun, with giddy Todd Edwards-style cut-ups and a loopy melody that sounds like it's trying to jump right out of the rigid framework. In this realm of functional deep house, Bonfield outshines his peers with craftsmanship and physical heft. But there's something about the super-streamlined "Who Knew Her" that feels like a letdown, especially coming from an artist whose best work always sounded like it could go in a number of different directions at any one time.
Tracklist01. Who Knew Her
02. Letters
03. Who Knew Her (Dale Howard Remix)