Brackles

Audio Mixer: Adrian Breakspear.
Signing to Rinse FM's own label was a natural progression for Brackles after releasing work on Planet Mu, Apple Pips, and securing his residency at London's original dubstep night FWD; the signs were always there. Rinse Presents: Brackles is the outcome of a year of silence from the producer, with only one single release to his name in 2011; the outcome, though, is an impressive piece of classic future garage. Managing to strike the balance between dancefloor and commercial success is always difficult for a dance producer to pull off, but Brackles' mix of vocal tracks such as "Go Ahead" and the opener "Never Coming Down" sits perfectly with the pure club numbers such as "Too Much" and "Squarehead." It's the vocal tracks where Brackles really shows his talent, though; "DPMO" could easily scale the charts and hints at the very real potential of commercial appeal, especially with the impressive vocals of Terri Walker. The syncopated drum patterns, lush synth pads, and the all-important deep sine and square wave basses throughout the album never sound tiresome, cohesively bringing all the tracks together. The curious addition of "X-Ray Specs" with its almost 8-bit computer sound -- which harks back to his first release on Apple Pips -- sits slightly off-kilter with the rest of the album's summery, pirate-radio-station vibe, but somehow it manages to hold its own. Brackles clearly shows that he's a producer who isn't afraid to aim for success, and Rinse Presents is the sound of somebody who is already at the top of their game. ~ Richard Wilson