Bok Bok's been bringing heat from across the pond for several years now, combining UK grime ethos with a variety of influences for some of the most surprisingly banging left-field gems. He's back in action with a new EP coming on Night Slugs in May, his first since 2011. The first single features Kelela on vocals and it's everything you could ask for in a collaboration between the two artists, solidly fusing Kelela's R&B-styled vox with the heavy, yet spacious production that's been Bok Bok's bread and butter. It's nothing that'll take you entirely by surprise, but that's also what I like about it - it's a continued exploration of a sound that seems to be going only deeper into dope-sounding experimentation.
It's easy for artists in Bok Bok's place to phone-in their collabs, simply adding vocals from a female artist to round out whatever it is might be missing in the tune, but that is wholly the opposite in this case. "Melba's Call" sounds as 50/50 as it gets between Kelela's crooning and Bok Bok's vision as a producer, and the sound is proof-positive of that. The video is pretty slick, too - never before did I think a futuristic Skype session in a sci-fi music production studio would be so fascinating, but there's a fair amount of CGI eye-candy to take in. All-in-all, it's a great appetizer for what's coming later this Spring.
(Complex)
