Four Tet / Champion: "Disparate"

It’s no secret that Kieran Hebden is game for almost any sort of collaboration, from working with the reclusive Burial and jamming with the late Steve Reid to going b2b with Skrillex. But he meets a kindred spirit in Reiss Hanson, aka DJ Champion. Since debuting with the peak UK funky track “Tribal Affair” in 2009, Hanson has himself, in recent years, partnered up with Melé, Miss Fire, and Terror Danjah.

So seamless is Hebden and Hanson’s work on “Disparate” that it’s hard to know who is triggering what. That openness and willingness to take risks pushes the duo into new territory. A hand drum pattern intensifies as the track goes, alongside anxious arpeggios, interjected grunts, synths that sparkle and trickle down like a cool stream—all of which make for a heady listen. But it’s when the trills of both birds and a looped R&B diva appear, and the frequencies pitch upwards to the breaking point, that “Disparate” goes against its title, the sounds cohering into something thrilling.

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