Bleep

Contortion is Lil Jabba’s most important tool: the New York producer returns to London label Local Action with Keep 47, further extending his range of musical inspiration. While earlier releases – such as his 2013 debut album for the label or his 2014 EP for True Panther– were mainly geared towards experiments in distorting footwork, ’47' saw him beginning to incorporate Southern hip hop and grime into his deconstructed beatscapes. On Keep 47, he refines this approach: with the digital synths, syncopated bass, frenetic snares and gunshot style claps (‘Grey’) or the cold ambience he conjures up with the aquatic mallets of ‘Search Team’, he clearly touches on the grime aesthetic. Then again, ‘Waila’ revolves around a jungle rhythm and ‘Sooth’ stands alone as a beatless structure of blithe synth chords – which once again proves Lil Jabba’s idiosyncratic style emerges through melodies rather than form.