Review: Mura Masa - Demon Time

Mura Masa

Demon Time

Pic N Mix

★★★★

Producer / Artist Alex Crossan has continued to become less restrained by the concept of genre as his career has progressed. ‘Demon Time’ is his most fluid, fun and frenetic record to date however its true potential lies on the dancefloor or a festival field rather than your stereo.

Mura Masa can never be accused of sitting still or cashing in on a sound. Electronic, Dance and any subset or inspiration of that genre move at a lightning pace. What’s ‘current’ or fresh in that sphere can be vastly out of date years later. It’s the reason that when Calvin Harris recently returned to the sound of his beloved ‘Funk Wav’ collection that the original warmth and spark were missing and subsequently the reception to the material was so muted.

Crossan’s true talent is in the way he learns to let go. His self-titled debut as ‘Mura Masa’ blended infectious pop melodies, light almost tropical instrumentation and joy that underpinned a starstudded list of unexpected collaborations that tapped into each of their unique skill sets. It was a commercial and critical success, and it would have been easy for Crossan to plug back into that tropical pop hit machine mode and crank out another accompanying record.

Instead with ‘Raw Youth Collage’ like the title suggests, Crossan moved into a more distorted, guitar-influenced zone. Shiny pop collaborations were swapped for a more alternative edge. Even the electronic aspects were dirtier and hit much harder. The soft tones of Clairo helped form the raucous limb shifter of ‘I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again’, Crossan noticed Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rosswell has one of the most captivating voices in modern music and utilised it perfectly on the dreamlike ‘Teenage Headache Dreams’ and his return to working with Slowthai resulted in what can only be described as a modern Parklife in the form of the sublime ‘Deal Wiv It’.

So what to expect from ‘Demon Time’? Unsurprisingly but interestingly, nothing like you’ve heard of before from the Mura Masa alias. Even a return to working with Slowthai results in a completely different tone, gone is the cheeky chorus of ‘Deal Wiv It’ replaced by an uncomfortable and challenging ode to Faithless that’s just as intriguing on ‘up all week’.

Whilst both his debut and ‘RYC’ had defined and cohesive sound templates that run throughout, ‘Demon Time’ feels like a Pic N’ Mix assortment of various styles, genres, and sounds. Crossan himself has likened this new approach to the blossoming popularity of playlists as a way to consume music over the last few years.

For example ‘slomo’ incorporates the flourishing genre of hyper pop, feeling like Mura Masa’s take on 100Gecs, it features elusive Japanese rapper Tohji whose own dabbling with Eurotrance makes for an apt and delightful collaboration. Whilst Afrobeats star Midas The Jagaban’s hook is thrown out of her comfort zone but that challenge has seen her shine on the track snappy hook.

Modern music has a love affair with nostalgia, currently infatuated with trying to recreate iconic pop moments of the last five decades. Mura Masa taps into this on ‘bbycakes’ with Lil Uzi Vert, pinkpantheress and Shygirl. An interpolation of the early 00s 3 of A Kind classic of the same name. Whilst the method of taking older classics and relying on their core melody to craft a hit has become a sharp disdain of mine, I can’t help but admit it greatly improves upon the original. Playing the original and Mura Masa’s new rendition side by side, Crossan, has identified both what makes the song so timeless, as well the moments that date it so drastically and has given it a new burst of life, Shygirl’s hook is heavenly as is rising star pinkpantheress acid-tongued verse.

Throughout the brisk eleven-track run, Crossan continues his tradition of elevating rising stars on tracks such as ‘Prada (i like that)’ which sees a starring feature from LEILAH who recently wowed on ‘GHOST’ the comeback single from SBTRKT. The vocalist also makes an appearance on the closing track ‘blush’ and feels like one of the most exciting aspects of the record alongside Shygirl.

There’s also a late highlight from Honduras-born, Montreal-based pop star Isabella Lovestory on the enchanting ‘Tonto’. Crossan crafts a melody akin to a snake charmer that lures you in, whilst Lovestory delightfully plays with her vocals, skipping across the beat with her unique blend of reggaeton and Pop that is reminiscent of how Rosalia has pioneered the genre in recent years.

Crossan has once again reinvented the concept of a dance-infused album, refusing to conform or stand still. Whilst it may be his least cohesive project to date due to its inspirations from the rise in playlists, it is a welcome incorporation into his discography and a sublime selection of songs. Crossan is an exceptional live artist and it feels ‘demon time’ will make his upcoming set without a doubt, unmissable.