If Grace Jones and Me'Shell Ndegeocello had a bastard love child, the babe would sound a lot like West London bad girl Lyric L, star of Mark de Clive-Lowe's latest single. The original(1) features Lyric L dropping some poetic science ("silent screams from burning streams/steal my dreams/hear my smile" huh?!?), but the twinkly starburst sounds make it all work as the track develops into a subtle and melodic house thumper. DJ Spinna takes a stab at broken beat on his remix(2), and proves again that he's quite the versatile knob twiddler. He toys with Lyric L's voice and adds more rhythmic drums and bleepy effects, giving it that stop/start/I love you/I hate you drama that is pure dance floor mindfuck. An instrumental version bursts with Brazilian carnival style and tribal percussion, though it's questionable if peeps are deep enough to handle a broken beat dub record yet. Lyric L's sophisticated sass is the draw here.

reviewed by Odyssey Jones