Sub Focus - Sub Focus

RAM Records: Cat. # RAMMLP13CD 

Released October 2009 

Track List: 

1. Let The Story Begin (4:53) 

2. World Of Hurt (4:25) 

3. Follow The Light (5:34) 

4. Last Jungle (3:40) 

5. Deep Space (4:37) 

6. Rock It (4:35) 

7. Move Higher featuring Culture Shock (4:13) 

8. Vapourise (4:05) 

9. Triple X (4:03) 

10. Could This Be Real (3:36) 

11. Splash (3:58) 

12. Timewarp (4:38) 

13. Coming Closer featuring Takura (3:35) 

IN BRIEF: More jungle for the masses. 

Thanks to Pendulum’s chart heroics, drum’n’bass has seldom been more popular. Okay, so maybe most of that success is primarily a UK thing but the genre is making some headway in bringing new talent to the masses. Nick Douwma, for instance. His first couple years as Sub Focus saw minor success but soon he caught the ear of jungle veteran Adam C (sending a CD-R of your own tunes to play out probably helps) and was promptly signed to his label RAM Records. 

Then the hits started to pile up, with tracks like X-Ray and Timewarp getting rinsed frequently at jungle parties. Still, that’s not quite enough to explain his recent string of Radio 1 play. Nay, ol’ Nick must have realized to really make an impact on the dance masses, he was going to have to follow Pendulum’s lead and branch out of the safe confines of by-the-book d’n’b. Thus, he grabbed a clutch of currently trendy styles and tinkered with the formula, creating a couple tracks that are quite inspired, and a couple others that are absolute pish. 

Let’s get the negative out of the way. Move Higher showed early promise, leaning on old-school jungle vibes with great effect. Then, that awful speed garage bassline drops, turning what could have been a fun track into a cornball fidget house tune. I’m sure it’s super popular with a whole bunch of kids out there, but whenever I hear a randomly modulated bass noise that has no funk, no hook, and no charm, all it inspires me to do is bust out my most exaggerated mock-rave dance. God, and people think donk music is stupid. 

The modulating bass nonsense continues in Could This Be Real, fucking up what could have been an amiable piano-house tune with funkless ‘wobble’ noise that’ll only have the floor acting out seizures as they try to move with it. Enough with the gimmicky bass modulations already. However, Douwma manages to surprise with Rock It, a wonderful electro spin on Pendulum’s brand of rock-heavy d’n’b. This track has already drawn tons of Daft Punk comparisons (because, you know, the French duo invented talkboxes and all) and is about as straight-forward a cut as the description implies, making it all the more surprising that no one had ever thought of doing it before. Or maybe it has been done, but this is the biggest exposure this sound has ever received. 

The rest of the album consists of jungle cuts of various types. You got some liquid funk care of Follow The Light, clownstep in Vapourise (a rather pointless tune considering it’s all tension builder with no proper release), more rocky tunes like Let The Story Begin, some spacey tracks with Splash and Deep Space, another go at diva soul with the cover World Of Hurt (original being Worla Hurt by nu-jazz mainstays Bugz In The Attic) and a total cheese-fest in Triple X. So a nicely varied album overall, with one nagging problem: much of it sounds tame. 

Yeah, there’s some strong beats to be had. Splash kicks some serious ass, while World Of Hurt and Deep Space grooves with the best of them. Yet I keep getting the impression this is jungle for beginners, those who are ready to move on from Pendulum but are fearful of diving too deep into the scene. Follow The Light, though a fine liquid funk song in its own right, ain’t a touch on what London Elektricity or High Contrast have been churning out for a decade. Ed Rush & Optical’s efforts easily trump Douwma’s sinister cuts, and so on. 

Cagey jungle vets aren’t going to be too fussed with this album, as the only way Sub Focus has managed to stand out from the glut is by producing tunes that are well outside the scene’s boundaries, and as mentioned he’s incredibly hit-or-miss with that. Still, even if this is entry-level d’n’b, Sub Focus will probably be a successful album for this very fact, as it’s an accessible starting point for the new generation of junglists. However, despite showing promise of a strong career, Douwma’s going to have to shake the formula a little more than what he’s done here. Rock It is an intriguing start but be wary if he takes the path of fidget-Hell instead. 

Score: 6/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

Follow The Light 

Rock It 

Splash 

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.