Opal

The evolution of UK bass music in the 2010s was defined by hybridity, as the cadences of dubstep, techno, drum ’n’ bass, and more melted together in unexpected formations. Beginning in 2013, on releases for labels like Livity Sound, Hessle Audio, XL, and his own Timedance, Batu (aka Oxford native Omar McCutcheon) masterminded a particularly dynamic strain of club fusion, one supercharged with snapping grooves and strange, silvery frequencies. But quite unlike scene-defining anthems such as “Marius” and “Melts Into Air,” Batu’s debut album, Opal, largely sets aside bold riffs and thundering rhythms in favor of murkier sounds. “Former World” and “Mineral Veins” set the moody scene with creaking metal and hazy bell tones; even when rapid-fire drums come tearing through “Convergence,” the gloom remains all-pervasive. Many of the album’s rhythms have a weird, slow/fast quality, and “Even Here” and “Atavism” toy with unusual time signatures, tying traditional drum ’n' bass cadences in tangled knots. The album’s dark heart reveals itself on “Solace,” an atmospheric dubstep cut made from little more than airy vocals and endless reverb.