- Just shy of two years since the release of their last album, trip hop legends UNKLE are back leading us once again down The Road in Part II (Lost Highway). Described by founder and collective lead James Lavell as ‘a mixtape and journey’ and, rather than a typical LP with a couple of standout singles and expendable fillers, it never fails to feel just like that.
Much like Part I, Part II finds itself genre hopping from the classic UNKLE trip hop sound, to orchestral dreamscapes, alternative rock, a piano ballad and some sweet house music. It’s a record filled to the brim with an impressive list of collabs which I won’t name off one by one, but honourable mentions go to, producer and singer Miink, rapper Elliott Power, Editors’ lead Tom Smith and The Duke Spirits’ Leila Moss.
Personal favourites include, last year’s lead single Ar.Mour as it uses samples found in the trip hop prototype box, with a dash of vocal work dropped in the last third by Elliott Power. Another is Kubrick, a seven minute thirty-three second alt-rock-electronica masterpiece, featuring the Clash’s Mick Jones, and a haunting bassline and kick which could have been borrowed from a Trentemøller track. An easy third goes to the final number which also happens to be a cover.
With the album being split into two records both come with respective covers to close off each part, the first being the Ewan MacColl classic love song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. While it’s reproduced ever-so-often, this version bleeds that emotion we only hope to expect when listening to an UNKLE record, with a standing ovation deserved to guest vocalist Keaton Henson who hits all the right notes to jerk your tears. The second cover however, Touch Me, originally by Rui Da Silva burns brighter and might just win the hearts of electronica devotees as it did with me on the first listen. What makes it so special is that it dives deep into a pool of progressive dance delivering a fresh take on the classic and finishes the record a whole dancefloor away from the lonely road where we first started; it just feels like a hugely magnanimous gesture.
Rewinding back to the beginning of the second journey it is evident that UNKLE were here all along to hold our hand as we travel the Lost Highway. I am not complaining one bit, as you feel more of the love than ever before with the warmth of spoken word and a soaring, genre-mashing companion soundtrack. It’s a familiar road in Part II, but a welcoming one, not to be forgotten.
- Luke Doig.