Fantastic Mr Fox You Turn
Many producers claim to have begun making beats in their early teens, but with Fantastic […]
Many producers claim to have begun making beats in their early teens, but with Fantastic Mr Fox, one suspects that he really did. After all, just about everything he puts his name on positively leaps out of the speakers, leaving the listener to wonder just how the Berlin-based Brit gets them coated in such a visceral sheen (not to mention why he hasn’t crossed over more). With drums that ping with irresistible pop precision, wondrously colorful synths, and glossy, lissom grooves, Fantastic Mr Fox’s tunes are translucent, the kinds of tracks that should fill up dancefloors and race out of record stores alike. As such, he’s been the jewel in Black Acre’s crown since 2009, and with his debut full-length pencilled in for early 2015, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
Ahead of that album comes new single “You Turn,” which features prolific Ninja Tune vocalist Kid A. Jumbling up all of Fantastic Mr Fox’s aesthetics and influences to date, the track is an idyllic piece of future dance-pop fusion. Subtle ’80s pads and stabs lend an all-important sense of color, explosive bass notes rip about, bringing some trademark physicality, and Kid A’s stylized vocals feel heartbroken at the center of it all. Ticking every contemporary box without feeling contrived or derivative, “You Turn” might be one of the most accomplished things that Fantastic Mr Fox has served up yet, and that certainly augurs well for the debut LP.
On remix duties is one of modern grime’s leading figures, Visionist, whose take on the track is actually a much more subdued, stripped-back affair. Wallowing in a moody neon undergrowth, its clipped chords wobble beneath haunting pads and hunched drums, which tumble in an increasingly loose fashion way down below. All the while, the original’s vocal gets refracted around the arrangement, resulting in something that’s spooky and more than a little haunting.