I have to come clean. Until very recently – 30 minutes ago, even – I had cast off the music of England as lacking in the funkadelic. Vicious? Absolutely. Innovative? Surely. Morose? Oh, yes. But until the likes of Mount Kimbie and this present generation of British beatmakers, I had secretly harbored head-bopping as one of England’s weak points.
With King Krule aka Edgar the Beatmaker aka Zoo Kid aka Archy Marshall providing vocals that are alternately simpering and snarling, Mount Kimbie layers buttery electric keys with a thick hi-hat to create, dare I say it, a groove. Closer to hip-hop than indie rock, the British duo exhibits a moody focus that combines Britain’s gray skies with some driving back beats that sync up perfectly with Krule’s meandering lyrics, “a pile of bones mixed with violent tones.”
Mount Kimbie’s Cold Spring Fault Less Youth drops May 27.
