ALBUM REVIEW: Mount Kimbie – Crooks and Lovers

Now I’m pretty sure that you have heard and already bought this album, but what would this blog be if we didn’t put up and say how great it is.
To be honest this couldn’t of come out at a better time, the dubstep/electronica scene is booming and its slap bang in the middle of summer. Mount Kimbie, of Hotflush Recordings, also happens to be one of the most hyped artists at the moment, so even with out putting it on your turntable, cd player, or laptop, it’s already exciting.

If you have any of Mount Kimbie’s EP’s, you’ll notice that “Crooks and Lovers” is a tincey bit different. You can hear that it has been written as an album, although it most definitely can be played in a club, I feel this piece works as a collective of tracks.
The first track “Tunnel Vision” is banger, with the echoed vox and rustling beat it puts you in the right mood to listen to “Crooks and Lovers”. It then moves on to the real album starter and what I presume to be the first single of, “Would Know”. The bleep fueled beat and “ooo”s and “aaa”s keep this track rolling, with an almost J Dilla influenced static fizz in the background. We’ve then got “Before I Move Off” the second track to feature a guitar, Mount Kimbie have kept their style innovative. This track also happens to have killer vocals, despite the fact they are cut up immensely, you feel as if you can sing to it.
After this the album starts to take a darker turn, more of a grime influence flows through. “Blind Night Errand”, a dirty bass blip track which progresses to a more chilled vocal breakdown, really keeps the variety of this album in tact. Its good to see that Mount Kimbie have tried to please just one crowd, as they really show a portfolio of sounds that everyones going to be hyped on.
I think the album favourite is going to be “Carbonated”, which has this smooth organ like synth, the drop where it comes in is so so sweet, I hear people going on about how some tracks have amazing drops, personally I’ve never really thought about it, but this track, although its particularly heavy, its so sick. The vocals come in shortly after simply murdering everything, after they came in, I’m pretty sure that this track has been moved up into one of my all time favourites. The EQ in it is perfect, the structure to the filter creates this amazing feel to the track that isn’t something have often.
Overall the album has a pretty chilled vibe, but their are parts when it starts to mix it up, “Field” and “Mayor” are both tracks I’m going to look forward to hearing live, as they both have the jumpy beat that picks the pace of the album up.

So there we have it, Mount Kimbie’s longly anticipated album, I think we can say without a doubt that this has lived up to its hype, perhaps even surpassed it. If there is one thing you do with your life this year, go see Mount Kimbie, cause no doubt their sets are going to be mindblowing.

Here is a internet favourite and a banger off the album.

Mount Kimbie – Maybes (James Blake Remix)

Mount Kimbie – Field