We’re in the midst of a trip-hop revival: some 30 years after Portishead released Dummy, artists such as Lolahol, a.s.o. and Avalon Emerson are waving the flag for the genre once again, refracting icy synth textures and torch-song vocals in modern ways. One of the best records of the trip-hop resurgence is by an unlikely pair: Oscar-nominated actor Samantha Morton and famed XL A&R-turned-owner Richard Russell. The duo’s new album, as Sam Morton, captures the uncanny prickliness innate to all the best trip-hop while folding in elements of dream-pop and no-wave, resulting in an unnerving, intoxicating listen. Inspired by Morton’s childhood, first living with abusive parents then moving around as a ward of the state, Daffodils & Dirt could have been unrelentingly dark, and its lyrics are often raw. But Russell’s production captures a sense of mystery and wonder, even hope, that makes these songs feel almost like fables. Broxtowe Girl plays like a dub remix of an Anna Domino song, all disembodied drum machine and wandering vocals; the downtempo cut Let’s Walk in the Night is mysterious and seductive, pop designed for hot moonlight hours. It’s eclectic and, by its skyward-looking spoken-word end, surprisingly invigorating.
