Pleather Soul
Some bands thrive on obscurity – especially in the electronic scene. Letherette is an emerging duo from Wolverhampton, UK, a town with possibly the greatest name in the world, and it’s currently unclear whether the duo is cultivating airs of mystery on purpose or simply haven’t made their big drop just yet. If the latter is true, the big drop should be coming up soon.
Featurette, the latest EP from Wolverhampton’s enigmatic duo, is a collection of four tracks that show influences from hip hop, to R&B, to French house, and even the territory of glitchy ambiance. The difference between Letherette and many of the other groups in the world today attempting to marry these musical stylings, is that Letherette is bringing a sense of cohesion to the music, as well as a touch of class.
The choppy grooves of “Warstones,” Featurette‘s opening track, make it clear that these two have taken at least a page or two from French house gurus like Thomas Bangalter and Alan Braxe. Songs like this would be right at home on turntables all over the world, rolling out mechanical beats overlaid with cut up vocal samples. It’s a classic formula in the dance scene, but the gents of Letherette take it in a new direction, transforming the song with thundering beat drops halfway through, and bouncing back and forth between these two faces until the eventual fade-out.
This EP packs a few surprises in its four songs to be sure. If you think you’re in for another collection of heavy bass house tracks, keep listening until “Surface,” a song that seems to be some strange amalgam of vintage Michael Jackson and ’90s Aphex Twin. There are lots of these imaginary collaborative moments on Featurette. There are a dozen or more different influences harmonizing at once, which is one of the record’s greatest strengths.
When the dust settles and the hacks have cleared out of the room, expect to see Letherette going strong. If this short EP can be taken as a preview of what’s to come, the full feature is sure to be pretty wild.
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