Back in April of 2013, we premiered “Birdcage Chain,” a nuanced trap masterpiece that introduced us to then 16-year-old beatsmith, Mura Masa. Since the release of his impressive self-titled EP last year, the young UK producer has been evolving and expanding his style to encompass an unmatched repertoire of sounds and influences. After providing a few promising glimpses into his debut album recently, the now 18-year-old musician released his debut album yesterday.
Soundtrack To A Death serves as a fitting title for the project with each song representing a lifetime of its own only to be reincarnated with the next in a refreshing, yet unified manner. While the trap percussion undertones remain prevalent, their booming qualities are contrasted with a mix of gorgeous pianos and synths, unique eastern sounds, engineered electronic instrumentation and flawlessly placed vocal samples. It’s difficult to establish favorites on a project as complete as this one, but we’ve shared a few above that portray its diversity. “…Girl” may best capture Mura Masa’s musical genius as he takes a simple piano melody and builds a masterfully arranged tune that is versatile and endlessly addicting.
In listening to this album, you get the sense that Mura Masa creates meticulously, with attention to every detail and subtlety, resulting in a mind-altering, deeply emotional listening experience, which brings to mind artists like Flying Lotus and XXYYXX. Although “Future” has always seemed like a strange genre classification, Mura Masa truly pushes musical boundaries on this project taking the current direction of electronic music to a whole new level and, at only 18, he is quite literally the future. Soundtrack To A Death can be streamed in its entirety and purchased over at Bandcamp; and is also available on iTunes.
P.S. Hit the jump to see the epic video for “…Girl” and listen to Mura Masa’s remix of Aryay‘s “The Lawnmower,” which just won the official remix contest.
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