[Culprit]

The combination of English tech-house producer Inxec and and NYC producer/promoter Leks on Culprit probably isn’t going to jump out at everyone as a must-hear EP. But for anyone curious or patient enough to take the time to give it a cursory listen, the How Can I Feel EP offers three tracks of relatively adventurous and consummately polished tech-house.

For this writer, it’s all about the A-side and title track, a dynamic and constantly evolving techy throbber that filters chunky house and breezy Balearic sounds through a stark minimal filter. Like a banger stuck behind a thick coat of plexiglass, it’s shiny, catchy and infectious, but just out of reach enough to make it tantalizingly enticing — never quite exploding like it threatens to and instead resuming its brisk, chugging pace. “Deee-Groove,” perhaps predictably, plays with deep house tropes, but does so on an uneven playing field that has more in common with Cadenza or Cecille than Underground Quality. The duo’s melodies are sent down topsy-turvy tunnels for a track that writhes and squirms, revealing innumerable layers of vocal samples and detailed hand percussion in the folds of its elaborate groove. Continuing on the same slightly toned-down vibe, “Sprinkles” pairs splattered and phased chords with pedestrian percussion and throws all kinds of filtered vocals, synth sounds, and jazzy keys over it, for another track that somehow sounds both hefty and underweight. That’s the key to appreciating this EP: nothing here is terribly original, but it’s all executed with such panache and clean-cut expertise that it’s hard not to love it all the same. Sometimes it’s all in the execution, and if nothing else Inxec and Leks know exactly what they’re doing here.