BEASTIE has laid out the details of a new EP called Maria and released "Mitcham Mint", the song at its centre, Clash reported on August 27.
The South London artist pulls from more than one place at once. His writing is abstract soul, but it is cut with glitchy electronics and glo-fi textures, and on "Mitcham Mint" the acoustic guitars are repeatedly disrupted by them. His voice moves between rap phrasing and straight soul singing across the same track.
The song is about the area he is from, and the video, directed by Gustav "Goose" Newby of Broken Antenna, is built around it. BEASTIE said he wanted to make something that encapsulated the chaos and beauty of the place he calls home, and described the EP as looking back and seeing yourself through the fog.
Maria runs ten tracks, opening with an intro and closing on "Maria weeps as i call her name". Guests are drawn from the same circle: Chandelier Fears appears on "crescent moon over figgs marsh", Apollo Vizion on "music of black origin" and Southside Finn on "south side prayer". Several of the titles name real places around Mitcham.
That specificity is what separates the release from the wider run of London artists working between rap and soul. Rather than writing about the city in general, BEASTIE keeps naming particular streets, marshes and moments, and lets the production carry the disorientation.
The EP sits between rnb and soul and electronic music, and joins the release calendar.
The facts
- The EP is called Maria and runs ten tracks
- Mitcham Mint is out now with a video directed by Gustav Newby
- Newby is one half of Broken Antenna
- Guests include Chandelier Fears, Apollo Vizion and Southside Finn
- BEASTIE is based in South London
- Several track titles name places around Mitcham
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