[REKIDS]

REKIDS broke nearly five months of silence with a new single from label proprietor Matt Edwards, who appeared under his supposedly soon-to-retire Radio Slave guise. It’s not entirely surprising they sat on I Don’t Need A Cure For This as it’s noticeably more subdued than Edwards’ usual club-clobbering fare, but it’s paired with the ethnic-sampling house varieties he’s helped popularize lately. There’s a distinctly introspective tone to the title track that gets minds wondering just what Edwards is refusing a cure for. The track itself suggests a spell of self-induced exhaustion: trotting along at a deliberate 124 bpm as a persistent ringlet of looped bells mimics tinnitus, it doesn’t peel clubbers off the walls so much as encourage them to save their energy. Glum, descending chords likewise counter the peppy tambourine patter and flat claps. If it weren’t for the trite sample of a woman speaking Spanish, “I Don’t” would almost be Edwards’ anti-anthem, a track that sees you off into the morning light instead of begging you to stay for just another hour.

Its flipside, however, embraces trendy house tropes with both arms. The bongo-clad “N.I.N.A.” finds Edwards twisting and tweaking the filters on an indistinct sample before an African children’s choir (later joined by their vamping director) chirp something vaguely close to the title in a tone that’s tries to be endearing and ends up almost menacing. For a track in this style it’s quite well made and will no doubt go down well in clubs where its ilk is the reigning sound. It’s the junk food counterweight to a track that’s as appealing as a bowl of broccoli to populist DJs. Yet I’d wager anyone who returns to this single in the next few years is seeking the title track, imperfect but noteworthy for capturing Edwards downshifting his hard charging Radio Slave moniker.