Bravery

As FaltyDL raises the curtain on his latest mini-LP, the stutter-step drums and misty-eyed melodies of \"Made Me Feel So Right\" suggest we\'re in for a Brooklyn-based take on Burial, one of dubstep\'s true demigods. If only things were that simple. In less than a year, FaltyDL has abruptly shifted from the Squarepusher-like breakcore of his *Rapidly Harvested Asparagus* EP — a speaker-rattling record that resembles the Planet Mu roster he\'s now on — to something that\'s a little more laid-back and dynamic. *Bravery* provides a scene-skimming bridge between FaltyDL\'s breakthrough album, *Love Is a Liability*, and whatever singles and EPs he\'ll release next. If there\'s any common theme throughout *Bravery*\'s eight cuts it\'s FaltyDL\'s refusal to sit still, although his restlessness never leaves you feeling queasy or overwhelmed. He\'s just full of samples he can\'t wait to share, whether it\'s the soulful wail of a house diva (\"Tronman\"), swift disco loops and steel-plated synths (\"Discant\"), or the kind of haunted house hooks you\'d find on a classic Aphex Twin single (\"Play Child\").

Following on from his great June debut album ‘Love is a Liability’, FaltyDL, aka New York’s Drew Lustman weighs in as a heavyweight talent with this incredible new mini L.P. ‘Bravery’ contrasts quite dramatically with his debut, especially since these eight tracks are brand new, recorded as recently as three months ago. The album works at different tempos but still impresses with FaltyDL’s featherweight combinations of melodic synths, glitzy garage samples and complex programmed beats and effects. From the first track ‘Made me feel so right’ as a brash, repeated garage vocal echoes over delicate, plaintive synths and string instrumentation, you know you’re in store for something good. Next up ‘Mother Beam’ opens up with hiccupped vocals, big bass and jazzy chords, into layered hip hop speed drums. By ‘Tronman’, things are beginning to get much more abstract; melodies hang mid-air while drums form into patterns underneath, the whole track feels weightless. Just as you’re beginning to feel lost in space, the music picks up with the chicken scratch guitar and dubbed out vocals of the up-tempo ‘Pressure’ which breaks into a complex workout of drums and bass. The album finishes with the acid and Rhodes of ‘Discant’, which layers sassy disco orchestration into the mix to dizzying effect. FaltyDL pushes the envelope in a big way and ‘Bravery’ is a hugely satisfying release in which you will always find something new with repeat listens.