Where to begin with young Melbourne duo Misha Grace and Nic Brown? This debut is strange, brave and wildly exciting. Friendships dive deep into jungle, grime and dubstep, yet amid the fury of beats, breaks and fastidious production they find space to inject great helpings of heart, art, beauty and risk. And when the bass hits, it hits hard.
The record overflows with ideas. Grace did a series of (very good) paintings to accompany it while Brown delivers a conceptual narrative in gauche spoken-word sequences that seem to be set in a Wake In Fright-style outback dystopia. “Recognise something in me, love, that resonates with you/Light it on fire and piss on it” he croaks on Footscray 1989 to the tinkle of saloon piano. The contrast between Brown’s junkie-ramble poetry and the amphetamine-charged club tracks makes this record too odd-shaped to pigeonhole. I’ve never heard anything like it.
