Burial - Street Halo

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  • Artist releases first solo 12-inch in four years and we collectively realise that not much has changed. In almost all cases this would be to the chagrin of those invested in the producer, although with Burial you could be forgiven for thinking that a lack of progression is actually preferable. The volume of late '00s bass music indebted to the enigmatic London producer is vast—unparalleled in fact. Across the release of two albums and three 12-inches William Bevan has crafted among the most indelible identities known to electronic music. The upshot of this is that despite Street Halo proffering merely minor tweaks to the blueprint, with so many derivatives on the market it feels enough to simply hear Burial being Burial. On a micro level, the four-to-the-floor bounce of the title track is the furthest removed from the music that has preceded it. "Street Halo" is (naturally) baked with static and melancholy, although the rolling synthesis around the bassline and momentary pause for impact prior to the kick's introduction suggests dancefloor considerations. "NYC" on the other hand, could have stood tall among the most pensive numbers on Burial and Untrue, its mass of swirling strings and patient garage beat evoking longing in London. "Stolen Dog" splits the difference by introducing a lick of synth melody and sharpening up the drums. Perhaps Burial's most heavily reproduced production attribute—pitch-bent vocals—feature often, chiming in around the upper octaves and conversing in their own indecipherable tongue.
  • Tracklist
      A Street Halo B1 NYC B2 Stolen Dog
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