[Cassy]

Panorama Bar’s go-to artist Cassy Britton has spent the last few years carving out a totally distinctive sound. 2006’s first installment on her self-titled label had seeds of it and 2007’s “Somelightuntothenight,” probably her breakthrough track, defined it. Cassy’s last release, “A Poem For You,” brought things to a whole new level. For an EP that seemed to contain such a shallow sound palette, it was gobsmacking just how deep it went. Somehow the absence of bass and the fact that you could put the needle anywhere on the record hasn’t stopped “Giving It Up” and “Poem” (on Uzuri) from being two of the most engrossing tracks to appear anywhere so far this year. This must surely have been down to the unbelievably delicate construction of the stripped down house groove and the equally perfect pairing of Cassy’s sensitive vocal.

“Idle Blues,” the second output on Cassy, has both these elements in abundance but puts a little more juice into the low end. Its friendly groove sounds a little influenced by the deep and bumpy vibe that Workshop, the label affiliated with Hardwax record store (where Cassy also works), has been pushing. If “Poem” with a little more kick to it sounds like just the thing to you, well, it sure does to me too. “April,” the b-side, is a bit more micro. It’s closer to her Perlon EPs than her Uzuri single, and stretches out longer than “Idle Blues,” coming in at eight minutes and change. Harmonies aren’t the name of the game here, but instead the illusion that a few slightly incompatible grooves have been sandwiched together is skillfully created. This is a track rich in emotional content rather than than hip-swaying ease, but repeated listening reveals this not to be folly. If “Idle Blues” is the popular kid in class who you make friends with easily, “April” is definitely the slightly awkward dweeb who proves endlessly rewarding to talk to when after you’ve put a little effort in. Have I used the word gobsmacking yet?