robert james

EP Review: Nudes - Nudes

Nudes is the self-titled debut EP from London duo Owen Wallace Lasch and Tom Giddins, and it represents an expansion of the vision demonstrated in their cover of Westbam's Oldschool, Baby that I posted shortly after they formed last year.

Lasch and Giddins got together to form Nudes after a lonely hearts inspired shout out on social media and since then the duo have apparently spent little time apart, Lasch's introversion complementing Giddins' more extroverted passionate sense.

Nudes retains some of the blissful electronic pop that their first work embodied, but if anything makes it feel more dreamy and spaced out, more thought through and fully crafted.

Opener 90's Depp is an ambient, cinematic soundscape that gently ushers in the EP before some delicate indie R&B style vocals pick their way amongst the cool electronics to form a hook that loops throughout much of the track. Avec is a little warmer, a loved up dedication, a plead to be with another. The vocal bounces seemingly against the track's elastic beats and solid, staid piano chords to create a gentle hug of a record.

The Heat is more abstract, a Balearic smattering of falsetto vocals echoing through the melody whilst percussion clatters against a simple bassline to create a glorious sense of feeling. Thirteen2thirteen is the final original track and more straight of a straight house track than the others, albeit it a rather minimal one, and the vocals provide a Chicago-influenced tears-on-the-dancefloor kind of soulfulness.

Two remixes of Avec also feature. The Plage 84 mix is chilled - slow beats loop with a sense of significant mass and filters give things a French feel. The Robert James mix is a deeper affair, minimal in style with the core vocal looped over a threatening bass line.

Nudes is out now on Zappruder Records, check out some of the tracks through Soundcloud above and the video for Avec below: