May: 9 dubstep & grime releases you need to hear this month

Maniac 'Homecoming' EP (Earth 616)

Grime’s original super-producer is back on Logan Sama’s Earth 616 imprint, a little over a year since teaming up with Boothroyd and Maxsta on a killer EP for Rinse. ‘Homecoming’ feels like exactly that: a return to his roots, draped in nostalgia. The clenching tension built by the strings on opener ‘Go’ sets the tone from the off, as bleepy arcade sounds mix with razor claps and crunchy squarewave patterns on ‘Track And Field’ (presumably an ode to the classic button-bashing video game of the same name). ‘Victoria Park’ switches styles again, stripping back the layers to focus on pressure and energy, before final track ‘Quadtratic’ takes similar cues: think sharp, high-intensity grime beats of the past, engineered for today.

7/10