Countless fans of the UK underground can trace their best club experiences back to London producer/DJ Joy Orbison. You could fill an entire dancefloor with anecdotes about his tracks: the catharsis of synth-y debut Hyph Mngo; the curiously quotable vocal cut-ups threaded through Sicko Cell, Ellipsis and Swims; every baptism in the submerging bass of Brthdtt; the decade-long yearn for unreleased cult hit GR Etiquette, and the collective jubilation last March when it was finally released for charity.
While Joy Orbison’s earlier releases helped define an era of underground electronic music, they’ve never quite defined him. In recent years he has collaborated with rave luminaries Overmono and maverick saxman Ben Vince, hosted radio broadcasts both on Radio 1 and in Grand Theft Auto, and peeled far away from floorfillers on 2019 EP Slipping. He continues down a left-field path on this new mixtape: the first full-length project of his 12-year career.
The mixtape embraces its longer format, its tracks slipping in and out of one continuous stream. Gone is the spirit of sun-soaked festivals; the instrumentals channel moods of nocturnes and moments alone, prompted by Covid lockdown. Shades of ambient and electronica are mixed in with Joy Orbison’s slinky, slick brand of house, garage and techno, and the array of guest singers, poets and rappers sharpen the record’s most potent moments. Voice notes from family members puncture the music with a simultaneous sense of new intimacy and innocuous familiarity. Along with beats that feel refined yet retro enough to have come via mid-00s German labels, they create a comfort that sinks into nostalgia perhaps too easily for an artist so committed to continual evolution.
