Emperor – Begin EP

Label: CriticalRelease: May 2013

It’s the man from Halifax but I’m not referring to that guy with the glasses. I mean 20-year-old Emperor, who in a short time has impressed many with his production skill, including Kasra who has taken him under his wing at Critical.

After Monolith on Modulations and the digital only Contaminant on the Critical X compilation last year he gets his first Critical release proper on the Begin EP. There’s no doubt about it, this young man has got skills. Title track Begin, featuring Georgia Yates, rolls out with some serious tech step and Noisia-esque levels of production. She Said brings the stand up double bass vibes and stepping edit laden drums. Trust me this one is sheer groove for the eardrums. Digital heads get some extra treats. Check the shuffling neuro funk of Precursor and one of the EP’s other standouts, Solar. Collaborating with Centra on this one it’s all sorts of rowdy future funk and sharp as a tack synths.

It’s fair to say that Emperor is quite talented, almost annoyingly so for someone so young. Having been on my radar from the first time I heard Monolith and not having a clue who it was by I’d say that his debut EP is one of my favourite releases of 2013 so far.