Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
Mount Kimbie released a series of EPs that made them among the most name-checked outfits in the Warp Records\' roster, and they earned critical praise for their 2010 full-length, *Crooks & Lovers*. The return of the British production duo is filled with intricate, cerebral grooves, hazy digital textures, and cut-and-spliced samples that constantly muddle the boundaries between IDM, dubstep, garage, and hip-hop. It’s exciting stuff on its own, but the guest vocal of up-and-coming singer/songwriter/rapper Archy Marshall—a.k.a King Krule—makes riviting highlights out of “You Took Your Time” and “Meter, Pale, Tone.\" By the time the looping sample of \"Fall Out” fades, *Cold Spring Fault Less Youth* offers a head-spinning tour of genre-defying musical frontiers.
On the London duo's second album, and first for Warp, they alter course from the manicured electronics of their debut, taking more risks-- especially with their vocals, and those of unexpected collaborator King Krule. And refreshingly, there's no nostalgia, dubby decay or wistfulness here.
The electronic duo's second album still refuses to court the mundane.
After kickstarting the post-dubstep sound on Crooks & Lovers, Mount Kimbie have turned their attention towards stranger sounds and more challenging song structures, bringing Kai Campos' vocals to the fore. The tracks Campos leads are among the standouts – opener Home Recording nods to James Blake while walking their own distinct line, pairing subtle electronic percussion with muted woodwind and organ, and Campos' fragile voice.
As they grew out of the same electronic music scene that birthed the likes of James Blake and Darkstar, the rise to success for Mount Kimbie and their subtle, fragmented electronic dance music was a quick one.