- For all the subtle changes he's undergone over the years (the lovesick swoon of "Heartbreaker," the glitzy disco of "Wish You Were Here," his more pointed recent work for Numbers) Deadboy has always aimed straight for the dance floor. So when the UK producer dropped "It Did Not Feel Right" on Crazylegs earlier this year, it sounded like his priorities had changed. Sure, the track's sappy vocal sample was a throwback to his classic "Fireworks," but where he'd usually slide in a 2-step beat or a broken drum pattern he just let the track bask in its own misery. While considerably more upbeat, White Magick—his debut for Local Action—takes the freeform approach of "It Did Not Feel Right" as a jumping off point for what ends up being Deadboy's best EP since 2011.
Deadboy's music has never existed in a vacuum. He's always borrowed ideas from the UK scene around him and re-jigged them to fit his sleek template. White Magick is no different, taking notes from the current crop of grime producers. The New Age leanings of Yamaneko, who released on on Local Action last year, are an obvious reference point, particularly on closer "I Will Let His Ocean Flow Through Me," with its slow-motion tidal wave. The elegant "White Moon Garden" taps into video game nostalgia and the gossamer "Rye Angel" brings things down to a whisper.
Even the more rhythmic tunes feel toned-down. "Sad Sniper" is the most percussive of them all, yet it holds back and lets off bursts of snares and hi-hats that sound like a rifleman picking off targets. "Copwar" is built with stained-glass chords that feel so delicate they could shatter at the slightest knock, and "Inner Palace" is an arresting lullaby that hearkens back to Deadboy's early days of 2009. Its Jojo sample wafts over a chunky bassline in a wonderful harmony of the fast and the slow. Like the Crazylegs release, White Magic shows Deadboy letting his gift for earwormy hooks float free, unencumbered by the quantized grid of dance music. He sounds refreshed for it.
Tracklist01. White Moon Garden
02. Inner Palace
03. Rye Angel
04. Sad Sniper
05. Copwar
06. I Will Let His Ocean Flow Through