Dawl - Break It Down (2020) [Hi-Res]

Since making his name as part of the Tone Dropout crew a few years back, Darren "Dawl" Woollard has become a go-to man for labels looking for on-point doses of sweaty retrofuturism. Here he makes his debut on Cardiff-based Haws, sprinting his way through acid/electro/breakbeat fusion (fantastic opener "Break It Down"), bustling, hip-house influenced early breakbeat hardcore revival (the stab-happy rush of "Subject 91") and bleep-sporting acid-house heaviness ("Proton", which may well be the EP's standout moment). To round things off, Kosh reworks "Break It Down", reinventing as a throbbing slab of booming techno rich in fizzing drum machine beats, low-slung bass, cyber-sonic melodies and intergalactic chords.