The flaw of swung, R&B-sampling house is that it can easily feel overworked; sometimes it’s the hyperslick, typically melodramatic source material, sometimes the looming need to constantly “push things forward.” The 22-year-old Brighton-based producer Lorca (who first appeared last year alongside Visionist on the Left_Blank imprint) verges on these traits on Can’t See Higher/Missed Me, his debut for the Dummy label, though it surely won’t disappoint fans of contemporary UK garage variants. This week’s download offers a rawer, more immediate, and less garage-influenced take on his sound. “What You Don’t Need” combines an energetic, electro-influenced rhythm with more tender overtones of clipped vocal and piano, and navigates the gap between the two with considerable punch. It works because it isn’t overly clean — there isn’t a huge whooshing build or anything — it’s more just the sound of young ears banging out a genre-merging track for the love of it. Our thanks to Dummy and Lorca for making this week’s download possible.
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