Street Halo EP - Burial

Street Halo EP

Burial
Hyperdub Records.


SCQ Rating: 84%

When Untrue established dubstep as a genuine electronic movement in the fall of 2007, nobody could comprehend what Burial had brought to the table. Its comparisons to Boards Of Canada weren’t based on any musical similarities but moreso how Untrue paralleled an album like Music Has the Right to Children’s ability to infiltrate a genre with something entirely foreign and exciting. By that measure, the general consensus amid indie-minded music-lovers was that dubstep would either round itself into a palpable sub-genre or fizzle as a trend.

Shit ended up going mainstream and Burial’s return, four years after his inventive sophomore, teases a few seemingly important questions about Burial’s duty as proprietor and whether he’ll deride dubstep or up the ante. Street Halo EP wisely evades that nonsense, thanks to a sudden release strategy and its hype-settling format choice. If there’s a statement decodable through this three-song EP, it’s that Burial remains in an isolated league of his own. Familiar pillars to Untrue’s template have stuck around: the insular bass bubbles from ‘Raver’ drop in on ‘Street Halo’, the block-chop beats branch out indiscriminately and breathy vocals are (no surprise) littered all over.

Yet Street Halo EP does offer a notable shift from previous Burial efforts by yearning for more spacious arrangements. Both of the club-ready tracks as well as the slow-burner ‘NYC’ encompass refined dubstep atmospheres that span well over six minutes, which works well given Burial’s less confrontational approach this time around. Subdued though it may be by comparison, Street Halo EP hides a sinister bite that’ll keep these tracks on devious rotation. In fact, with its easy digestibility, early listens may have you declaring the sensual head-candy of ‘Stolen Dog’ or the fog-tinged beauty of ‘NYC’ as instant classics. Keep listening; this EP doesn’t aim to change the nature of dubstep but it does remind us what’s so enigmatic and alluring about the verified style. Essentially, that's Burial.


burial street halo EP by marrows blog