Failure to Comply – Mr. MiLK (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

‘Failure To Comply’ is less a piece of EDM and more an exercise in soundscaping, less about the consistency that usually goes with music built on a dance groove and more about setting such beats in a bigger, more cinematic setting. A track that exists somewhere between digital groove and sonic grace. I hate it when people talk about going on musical journeys, but this is one of the times that such language is more than acceptable.

It comes in on chiming understatements and beguiling atmospheres, more space and sound before an urgent, shimmering beat elevates such delicacy into danceable drive. And the heart of the song then spills out, half clubland cool, half filmic finesse. The sounds ebb and flow, sometimes giving themselves over to a soundtrack for the dancefloor denizens and divas, sometimes toying with gossamer electronica drifts.

There is an element of subversiveness about the track; the clubbers will be wrong-footed by its lilting lulls, moments when the beat drifts off on the breeze altogether, fans of more traditional instrumental soundscapes perhaps startled by the bursts of groove amongst the graceful sonic lines.

Based on the above interplay and subversiveness, sonic swerves, and lack of adherence to the audience’s expectations, ‘Failure to Comply’ is indeed well named.