★★★★☆
Shawhin Izaddoost is the V-Cubed producer from Austin, TX who has the advantage of having access to dubstep’s self-protecting mode, but pulling it out from the corner it usually cowers in. The very title Across the Sea could well be code for embracing transatlantic developments in dubstep and bass, and has pockets of glumness and strong-silent typecasting. “Dolven” is your classic post-dubstep fading into grey, pulled back by ear-collapsing bass and jumbled vocal spectres. But with it, two-step skips shake up the place so that the ghostliness become something not to be afraid of or empathize with.
Synths and bass continually blow away the cobwebs, applying physics and physicality so that VVV is constantly pushing away negatives. Garage enlivener “Aisle Seat” bests in classiness and determination, ‘Retreated’ is too glossy to take a backseat, and “Traverse” is a merger of frisky 2-step and dubstep/bass’s looking for solitude and shelter, with neither getting in each other’s way. With the 8-bit bites of “Under Control,” VVV shows he’s one for fusion with a kick, for both inside and outside of headphones. While not breaking completely new ground when it comes to a unique inventory, it’s an album that’s a flawless demonstration of how to impart power when presenting something seemingly so fragile at heart.
File under: Kerogen, Burial, Sully