XXXY – 18 Hours

The next release on Rinse is the 18 Hours EP, the first in a series of 3 x 3 track EPs and the latest missive of stargazing, spaced-out house from label regular Rupert Taylor, aka XXXY. Over the last few years Taylor’s music has formed a launch pad for his explorations of the styles that fascinate him, from the heartbeat swing of UK garage to lysergic experimentation and the heady pulse of peak-time house. The 18 Hours EP follows up this year’s deliriously catchy Rinse single ‘Never Enough’ and the arrow-sharp ‘Goldfish’ on Ten Thousand Yen. Each of its three tracks captures the XXXY sound from a distinctly different angle, but they’re united by his music’s long-running personality traits: a devilish ear for space and melody, which bubbles through even its starkest moments.

’18 Hours’ itself is a gorgeous, limpid whirlpool of a club track. Rolling out over nearly six minutes, it emerges from shimmery beginnings into a wave-like rush of drums and synthlines that seethes forward and repeatedly crests in eddies of harmonic activity. The EP’s other two tracks are among XXXY’s hardest-hitting floor burners to date: ‘Tool (Satire Mix)’ is a tough, bristling mass of acidic bleeps and steely percussion custom honed for maximum impact in the early hours. ‘Clap Pitch’ is harder still: perhaps the freakiest XXXY track to date, it razes the dancefloor in salvos of static, distortion and wild electronic shrieks.