Dreama EP

R&B-flavored club music, pioneered and adopted by so many young producers within the past few years, has become so prevalent and overdone that I just tend to ignore most of it lately. Sorry, true. Kingdom, however, always brings an aggressive, swaggering sexuality to his work, that keeps him apart from the rest of the pitch-shift semi-soft crew. Dreama takes the listener to a twilight urban domain that may be a bit more sparkling than the heavy vibes of That Mystic, but is equally, compellingly menacing.

'Let You No''s thudding bass has the pulse jumping immediately, and when the vocal sample pops up halfway through (a perfectly-applied Sadie Ama repeatedly intoning 'I should have held back' over and over) it's that perfect combination of untouchable diva and inhuman repetition that keeps the shade high. 'Stalker Ha' is a more evil approach to house via horror, the Halloween-esque piano theme accented by vocals that again echo the mechanical, all half-coo, half- rave siren. An incessant drumbeat and a crunchy production bring the mood into...ugh, well lately I can't really read, hear or say the word 'dark' anymore, but if house music ever deserved the term, it's here. 'Dreama' rides a funky bassline down the spine, a sultry polished number that flows along on a bouncing groove reminiscent of Shriekback at their poppiest.

The EP closes with the ominous rising drones of 'Hood By Air Theme', done for associate and friend Shayne (one-half of NYC's GHE20 G0TH1K) and his label. The vibe is almost claustrophobic, tight beats squeezing you in the fog of some monstrous club night, lost in a sea of bodies and drugs. Eventually a voice is heard through the blur: 'I hear you' says Madonna, albeit chopped into slivers. It's a haunting finish, and a fascinating look at how Kingdom has evolved. The four tracks here are every bit as lovely and sinister as we've come to expect, but they're more subtle, more emotive. Both of his Night Slugs EPs tell a unique story, leaving the listener wanting to hear it again and again. I'm intrigued by what he could do within the format of a full LP. Hint hint.