This isn’t your older brother’s beat up downtempo record! On his first studio album in 5 years, George Evelyn takes the tried-and-true framework of future jazz, hip-hop, trip-hop - whatever you like to call it - and implements them in new and refreshing ways. In 2018, Evelyn is effectively Warp’s longest serving artist, after debuting on the label in 1989 with the bleep & bass anthem “Dextrous” and the even better “Aftermath” shortly after, before pivoting to the blunted downtempo of the now classic and utterly self-explanatory Smokers Delight that saw him swapping out the ravey urgency of his first few singles for bearded hip-hop psychedelia and poised rare groove textures. Shape The Future boasts the same deadly dub basslines that defined his classic downtempo period as well as those early warehouse bangers, but posits them beneath an intricate network of jazzy instrumentation and synthetic textures where the threshold between samples and original material is thrillingly hard to pinpoint. Not to mention the guests that really take these songs to another level: Sadie Walker’s soulful murmur over the enormous sub bass and sparse piano on “Deep Shadows” is simple but highly potent, making precisely the sort of underground R&B-tinged track Drake likes to ape for his crossover smashes, and Andrew Ashong’s performance on the jazzy and laid back “Tell My Vision” is a real highlight. The fuzzy rocksteady of “Tomorrow” featuring LSK and the triplicate thump and noirish atmosphere of the title track are also major standouts, and the hair-raising cadence of cinematic album coda "The Othership" prove that in the far future, guitar & rhodes is still a sureshot combination. Double vinyl pressing housed in full color gatefold with printed inner sleeves. Recommended.

• black double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• printed inner sleeves
• music label: Warp Records 2018

reviewed by hannibal chew 02/2018