When one thinks of 17-year-olds living in Orange County, it’s easy to conjure up a host of generalizations based on that suburban haven—or hell, depending on which side of the county line you fall. But when it comes to the disarming Zeadron Del Gomez bedroom project, those expectations will be swiftly dispensed. A couple weeks back, Del Gomez (a.k.a. Jack Heffron) released a free, full-length record titled Hold My Hand? No through the online magazine Rebel. Compiling his best 11 tracks over a five-month production period, Heffron crafted a remarkably varied record that explores mostly the dark, unnerving sides of UK garage, house, and dubstep. What’s most intriguing about Heffron’s record is that it threads these inextricably tied sounds into something that nods to the past while uniquely expounding on their potential, an accomplishment reminiscent of Zomby’s encyclopedic Where Were U In ’92?. UK garage is at work on this particular track, though the patience that is exemplified here is as precocious as Heffron himself, taking two of the seven minutes to set an ominous stage before a machine-like half-stepping groove enters alongside gun cocking, lonely dub piano chords and a wan maternal voice.

Silk