Bleep

2019 could be the year that NON Worldwide change the game for good. After Nkisi’s futuro-techno LP 7 Directions dropped back in January, March heralds the release of Angel-Ho’s new Hyperdub full-length Death Becomes Her. Produced by Angel-Ho and a roster of guests that includes Gaika and Nguzunguzu’s Asmara, the South African artist’s ‘debut proper’ announces her as one of the most impressive and unique artists currently working in the underground.

Death Becomes Her’s big moments hit so hard that we can see them slaying parties from the UK to Cape Town. The K Rizz-featuring ‘Like A Girl’, for instance, is a rambunctious mix of ‘Township Funk’ synths, gqom drums, hip-house and ballroom. ‘Baby Tee’ is a forward-facing r&b joint that features a great verse from K-$, while ‘Drama’ blends a dinky melody into the kind of brutalised club riddims one associates with labels like Fade To Mind.

While the record is laced with these more immediate numbers, many of Death Becomes Her’s most thrilling moments are a little more obtuse. ‘Pose’, for instance, is an inverted r&b jam in the manner of Future Brown. Klein and Mykki Blanco are invoked in the intimidating anti-club opener ‘Business’. Anyone out there who’s a fiend for harsh sounds should head immediately to Death Becomes Her’s midsection - the run of ‘Good Friday Daddy’, ‘Cupido’, ‘Live’ and ‘Destify’ contain some of the most abrasive sonics you’ll hear this side of an Einstürzende Neubauten LP.

Death Becomes Her is one of the most vital dispatches yet from the Angel-Ho and the entire NON crew yet...