Klute – The Draft

There aren’t many producers in the world of drum n bass, or any other genre for that matter, with a track record as flawless as Klute. From his debut album for Certificate 18 in 1998 to the present day he’s hardly put a foot wrong.

He’s also mastered the art of the long-form with six albums under his belt and the seventh, “The Draft”, has just landed on his own Commercial Suicide imprint. While most of his recent albums have seen him split the tracklisting in two with one disc of drum n bass and a second of tracks covering a variety of genres, this latest outing sees him combine both into one single 15 tracker.

The album opens with “Sober Light of Day” and the beatless atmospherics lead things in nicely before “Turnaround” appears and the rollin kicks and soaking snares come into action with a floaty lead line providing some earworm action.

The tempo’s maintained for a few tracks with the tough-edged “Our Pretty Lives” providing a perfect peak before the foot slips off the gas on the melancholy “House of Maciver”.

The peaks and troughs continue with dnb highlights including “Last Words” (with a phenomenal vocal reminiscent of “Song Seller”), “Sick Drive” and intense penultimate track “Best Bits Not Over” sitting alongside spacier moments such as “Birdland” and “Valentine”.

Altogether it’s a hugely impressive piece of work that sees Klute maintain the quality control and high production standards that have been present from the very start of his career.

Available now at Juno.