It’s been a long, arduous slog, but The Count & Sinden’s debut album has finally arrived after many a delay. Good on them for taking their time on it we say. Thankfully they’ve balanced more commercially-focused endeavours with straight-up dancefloor bangers – so anyone fearing that they’d just be going for chart glory can forget about it.
Their sound represents the vibrant in explosion in UK bass music in recent years, as well as taking several leads from various global sounds. Do You Really Want It successfully tackles the wonky electro hip-hop mould that the likes of Scratch Perverts and Modeselektor have done so well with previously, kicking off the album with zippy synths and peppy vocals from Trackademus, while later on Hold Me takes UK funky and shoves a rocket up its arse, amping it up to peak-time fodder thanks to its wobbling speed garage b-line and girl-of-the-moment Katy B’s catchy, honeyed vocals.
In After Dark, they’ve created one of the singles of the summer and something that blew away everyone’s preconceptions of what they were capable. A wonderfully warm afro-beat driven number, it’s elevated by an anthemic vocal from Mystery Jets and proves an absolute highlight on the album. The Spanish vocals and reggaeton groove of Llamamé show the much-maligned genre in more enticing light – in no short part due to the electro wonkery therein – and another surprise comes in the ambient-flecked haziness of You Make Me Feel So Good, something Nathan Fake would probably be proud of.
Their previous glories still sound fresh enough too – Hardcore Girls is modern hip-house via B-more with plenty to keep you entertained, and Mega is a simple but huge riff-led banger that still demands a listen. Their breakthrough hit Beeper would have been welcome, but you can understand why they might have chosen to omit it.
It’s not all a success – Addicted To You is male vocal fluff the wrong side of the cheesemongers, and Panther’s incessant accordions are downright irritating – but that’s just a small blot on an otherwise very impressive and suitably varied debut. It somehow doesn’t glue together perfectly, and so doesn’t make up more than the sum of its parts – but some of its parts make for a riveting listen.
Tracklist:
01. Do You Really Want It - feat. Trackademicks
02. After Dark - feat. Mystery Jets
03. Desert Rhythm
04. Hardcore Girls - feat. Rye Rye
05. Roll Out - feat. 77 Klash
06. Elephant 1234
07. Hold me - feat. Katy B
08. Mega
09. Addicted To You - feat. Bashy
10. Panther
11. Llamamé - feat. Coolio Iglesias
12. You Make Me Feel So Good