The second these eerie, haunting pads and spacious, slurring beats creep out of your speakers you know this will rattle cages, ruffle feathers and give anyone within a three mile radius a royal kick up the booty. As with all Distance dishes, the bass is the main chat up line, but you could argue the real star of the show is the kick drum. Taking a less-is-more approach, the energy is sprung from the fills as the kick spits out a brief 4/4 before we dive deep into bass hyperspace where another sublime riff works its simplistic charms amidst the mix, endlessly mutating with hypnotic glee. Halfstep heavyweightism; Rugged sets the pace with alarming funk and menace. A robust riff and sharp percussion tease the ears as the bottom end reflects the melody, snarling its way slowly but surely into the mix. A tripped out echo effect breaks the formalities as we drop into the main musical meal. Mechanical and mischievous, the melody’s simple-but-effective Q&A rolls and evolves as new percussive elements eke their way in before Distance casually strips everything back in preparation for a swift breakdown and a developed drop. Naturally it’s all about the bass; not dissimilar to the same powerful dynamic flavour favoured by neuro D&B producers, its full body pressure packs enough to punch to cause numerous rewinds. Two massive underground tracks delivered with respect to the genre’s most classic, traditional techniques. In a scene awash with imitation, this is no mean feat. But in the hands of Distance, a man who’s manipulated soaring sawtooths and hammering halfsteps for nearly an entire decade, we’d expect nothing less.