Ineffable

After a decade of club singles spanning bassline house, garage, grime and more, DJ Q finally releases his debut album, Ineffable, on Local Action. Although he’s been releasing club tracks since the start of the ‘00s, DJ Q had his breakthrough moment in 2008 with ‘U Wot’, one of the biggest tracks to come out of the UK’s bassline house / Niche explosion. The years since have seen him hold down residencies on BBC Radio 1xtra and Ministry of Sound Radio, while releasing on Butterz, Unknown to the Unknown and Local Action. He’s picked up some impressive admirers along the way too – DJ EZ, Mobb Deep rapper Prodigy and Skrillex have all shown their admiration for Q in recent years. Ineffable follows four singles for Local Action (including the instant sell-out ‘Brandy & Coke’) and – let’s get this straight – is a pop record, albeit a pop record raised on MJ Cole, Todd Edwards, French touch and grime. This is 21st century pop music the way it should sound: at times devoted and at times desolate, sexually charged and made for the night. Guest appearances come from regular collaborator Louise Williams, Swedish vocalist Kassandra, Kai Ryder, Jayjayborn2sing and cult grime MC Discarda, whose performance on ‘Lassie’ provides a sequel of sorts to his classic freestyle over XTC’s ‘Functions on the Low’.

Over the past several years, DJ Q has leaped into the void created by the undefined narrative of the UK’s black inner-urban dance scene to claim the territory as his own. His debut album, Ineffable, is a collection of the former star of North England’s bassline scene’s productions that attempts to capture the broader canvasses he typically works with.