Album Review: Slugabed - Time Team

Slugabed toys around with space-age sounds and otherworldly reverberations in his debut album to form something that is as tongue-in-cheek as it is varied. Orchestras of uniquely pitched vocals accompanied with unorthodox hip hop beats make for the majority, as well as the most accessible sounds, in this album. Slugabed's real gloss, though, lies where he explores his obviously ample creative side, but also manages to maintain some sense of cohesion between all of a song's elements.

Time Team achieves this most in lead single Sex, delving into the sensual sounds of classic funk and soul jazz . Riddled with intertwining, seductive synths, it gives a modern and flavoursome spin on a pair of age-old genres. Moonbeam Rider works off a similar kind of formula, incorporating lively, bouncy synths as well as a booming, deep sub bass.

If you're hearing Slugabed for the first time on this release, you'd find it very difficult to believe that he has actually toned down the intensity of his work, but what has been preserved is his sense of creativity and eccentricity. Unfortunately this quirkiness isn't always pulled of successfully, and some songs feel lacklustre and out of place in this peculiar and roundabout sort of journey. Most notably Grandma Pants Nice is peppered with conflicting and largely disagreeable noises, in a track that tampers with the already slightly cluttered flow of the album.

No doubt some of the tracks are delightfully produced, but Slugabed begs the question whether the album is one of exploration or simply lack of direction.