- The name Strict Face has been present in discussions of new instrumental grime for some time. But it was his recent Fountains single for Gobstopper that confirmed him as a voice worth listening to. This EP for Tuff Wax allows the Adelaide producer to further explore the blueprint of that two-tracker. And while grime is still the framework—it's present in the twitchy rhythmic cadences, not to mention the occasional squarewave—Strict Face is, at this point, pretty far away from any traditional notion of the genre. Even his use of self-consciously Eastern modalities only rarely invites the hackneyed sinogrime tag. Instead his lyrical melodies and woodblock-like sonics seem drawn from other sources: anime soundtracks, '80s Sakamoto, cutscenes from Final Fantasy.
As you may have guessed, melody is central here. The best parts of Marble Isles are led by—nay, constructed around—their top lines: long, detailed things, richly layered and carefully ornamented. "In Evergreen"'s is stately and stop-start. "New Moonlight"'s is even prettier, and benefits from some percussive muscle. In "Arpeggius" Strict Face shows he can be bolder, too, with a rap-inflected beat and audacious late-game key change making it—almost—a banger. Only stodgy, Górecki-in-grime opener "Slow Fields" is less than elegant. And when our man attempts something equally weightless at the close, it's a triumph. Minimal in construction, "Mountain Falls" shows just how far one of those melodies can go.
Tracklist01. Slow Fields
02. Arpeggius
03. In Evergreen
04. New Moonlight
05. Mountain Falls