Bleep

Two enigmatic architects of the UK bass and dubstep scenes world collide, the man of many prefixes teams up with the man who prefers to play his cards closer to his chest. Whilst predominantly working with like-minded dubstep impresario Dust, producer, journalist, DJ, Keysound Recordings boss and long-time Rinse FM radio host Martin Clark aka Blackdown has always shared an orbit with Burial. But after years of trading remixes, Shock Power of Love EP finally matches the two producers’ shared rhythmic, spatial and atmospheric sensibilities on one release.

The two producers deliver a remarkable breadth of classic dubstep textures with their allotted two tracks apiece. Blackdown gets things started with an Oberheim DMX-style kick, eking out spaced-out synths and vocal snippets on big-room slow-burner ‘This Journey VIP’. The upbeat mood vibrates even higher with the glittery arps and stray bass on his Heatmap remix. Meanwhile, Burial broods in his fog-coated megaliths, two more elegies for the death of rave. ‘Dark Gethsemane’ sends the disc’s titular message of unification whirling across trippy psych stomps and mottled 2-step beats — “we must shock this nation with the power of love” — easily making the 10-minute epic one of Burial’s most emotive drops to date.

The combined powers of Blackdown and Burial make for a fittingly emotive meditation on the scene in 2021 following a year of empty dancefloors.