- The Lebanese-Australian hard drum producer slows down on his new Livity joint.
- Clocking in at a little over 21 minutes, Quick is an efficient primer for the percussion-forward, dabke-informed sound DJ Plead has made his own. While the Melbourne producer's debut EP on Livity Sound brimmed with the propulsive, breathless urgency of an EP made with a high-energy dance floor in mind, his second EP for the Bristol label slows things right down, contemplating what rhythmic mayhem can be had at 100 BPM. Drums still lead the charge here in classic Plead fashion, but they are more modest and more willing to make way for brash, angular chords or swerving melodies that recall the mizmar flourishes of Levantine folk music.
"Come Quick" opens the record, the title itself an invitation to stop what you're doing and listen. The showstopper, however, is "El Es," an exceptional contribution to the growing catalogue of mutant reggaeton that has haunted certain corners of dance music for years now. It is a growling beast of a tune, demanding your utmost attention with its menacing bass groove and hats that hiss like a cobra ready to strike. Closing out the EP is "Skittles," a club-ready cut led not by drums but by a relentless trancey arp.
Quick is a playful record, with Plead softening his usual hard drum antics in favour of a pared-down approach. It's a tack that occasionally verges on awkwardness, with moments where discrete sonic elements hang in mid-air instead of working together to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For the most part, however, Quick is an adventurous work that reaches for something new and grasps it quite capably.
Tracklist01. Come Quick
02. Louca
03. El Es
04. Skittles