Bicep

★★★★ Isles

NINJA TUNE. CD/DL/LP

Gilt-edged club-leaning sounds that move both body and soul.

PAST AND present collide to create a new future in the second long-player from Belfast-raised, London-based duo Bicep. Isles finds Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson reflecting on their Northern Irish upbringing, as well as weaving in the diverse, polycultural musical influences they’ve encountered in their current home. This is music for smarter dancefloors, one where samples of field-recorded Malawian singers and chants from Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares are adroitly blended into swoonsome widescreen electro (Apricots) and twitchy UK garage rhythms are counterpointed by woozy ambient chords (Saku). In many ways, McBriar and Ferguson increasingly feel like natural heirs to the emotional, alt-club MO of Orbital. The opportunity to hear Isles in the setting of the intense, coruscating creativity of their live shows is something to look forward to.