Pretty Ugly

Leon Smart has touched on many, many styles in his years on the underground frontline — from grime to house to, later on, experimental South African gqom — but one vital thread that runs through his productions and club and radio sets is a deep seated love of neo-soul and R&B. It’s that which came to the fore on his 2012 debut album proper for Hyperdub: it does contain a lot of discordant electronic weirdness and dancefloor oomph but above all it’s a record of songs, with a cavalcade of super-individualists like Vikter Duplaix, Fatima and Muhsinah providing vocals, but just as much Smart’s fizzing, buzzing, rubbery chords adding soul throughout.