Letherette: Featurette

Letherette could be considered the Abel Tesfaye of electronic music for more than one reason. First, the UK duo is intensely camera shy, preferring to make their home in the quiet environs of Wolverhampton, UK, rather than a club-centric metropolis. Second, like Tesfaye’s grimy fusion R&B, Letherette consider genre more suggestion than form. On Featurette, their newest EP, the duo uses a scant 17 minutes to fuse everything from glitch to French house to R&B. Imagine Thomas Bangalter, Lionel Richie, and Dan Deacon recording together. I know, right?

The EP opens with “Warstones”, which could be the glitchy trance soundtrack to a cheesy workout video. “Surface”, an engaging marriage of chillwave and ambient, bleeds into “Ettewards”, a funked-up 80s-pop-inspired dance party with a thundering beat. Closer “Wecko” is a trippy chiptune adventure where everything stretches in strange dimensions like a carnival fun-house mirror. You aren’t sure whether to be terrified or excited, but your blood is pumping by the end of the ride.

Considering the wide range of styles on Featurette, the tracks transition immensely well, showing a deft hand at the controls and resulting in the kind of carefully wild rule bending that makes for an exciting new act. Featurette may only whet the appetite for Letherette’s impending full-length debut, but it’s definitely a pleasant snack.