Reviews

Gang Colours

Brownswood is on a bit of a roll at the moment.  Ghostpoet’s debut was delicious, the Brownswood Electr*c 2 album is a veritable feast and this fun size 4-track debut EP from Southampton’s Gang Colours – aka 23-year-old Will Ozanne – is very tasty.  I don’t profess to know a great deal about this recent addition to Gilles Peterson’s stable but, given the level of variety and upbeat sounds, I like what I hear.

Indeed, it’s an airy debut with garage throwbacks and synth-led melodies redolent of a headier time of dance music.  ‘Village and City’ certainly carries the hallmarks of UK garage but he counters this with otherworldly SFX and the sort of dizzying noise that marks yet another failed attempt on a retro arcade game.  It’s cool and uplifting as the village wording suggests, although not prosaically suburban.  An uplifting tonic perhaps for the fantastic, yet altogether grittier, inner city sounds of Burial.

Impressively, Ozanne doesn’t feel the need to clutter every nook and cranny with complex beats and, instead, there’s a mature calmness that runs throughout.  Nonetheless, ‘Fireworks in Pocket’ has a particularly catchy hook and it’s not surprising that the Artful Dodger is cited as an influence.  The female vocals on this one are distinctly sparser and, dare I say it, a helluva lot less cheesy than the latter.  Elsewhere, ‘Dance around the Subject’ has a really effective build to a jittery drop while still keeping intact that buoyant quality.  ‘In Your Gut like a Knife’ is quietly expansive and a serene way to finish; there’s no obligation on Gang Colours’ part to create an over-the-top finish.

Gang Colours is another one to add to the roster of emerging talent on this label – the knives are most certainly out for drab, posturing, try-hard dance music.

Words: Ben Nicholas

The ‘In Your Gut Like A Knife’ EP is out June 6th on Brownswood Recordings.