Escape Plan

Since first hearing Thornato’s edits of dancehall and Afro-Colombian folk music in the early 2010s, it’s remarkable how his MO has remai η ed intact. His emphasis has always been on creating club-friendly riddims that bubble with melody and stay free of big dynamic shifts, and he contin ues this on his second full-length album, which maintains his previous influences. ‘Break Away’ is a canny cumbia with a prodding bass line and alternating lead organ and guitar, giving it a 60s garage feel; ‘Mes Couleurs’ with its gentle marimba rhythm and soothing vocals from Bachan Kaur gets into a lower-key downtempo mood, and this continues on ‘Ya Hawa’, a glowering groove full of instrumental flourishes that demands repeated listens.

A more upbeat side emerges on ‘La Nina Grande’ with its synths, sirens and skittering beats breaking for the dance floor, and on a number of tracks dripping with dancehall flavours. The best of these is ‘The Fairest’, which starts with a kora melody and somehow ends up sounding Afropop despite its DNA. One criticism of global bass music is that too often the producers try their hand at every genre, never settling into a signature style. Thornato has known his direction from the start, and delivers it with aplomb.