This November will mark a full decade since mysterious minimal dubstep pioneer Burial has released a full-length album, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been starved for new music from him. Since 2011, he’s dropped six EPs, usually consisting of two-to-three songs each and appearing online with little advance warning. The most recent of these is May’s Subtemple, which consists of two tracks that are more in the ambient realm than most of Burial’s bass-heavy discography. If that left any fans craving the glitchy danceability of his other work, fear not: another new EP has arrived to quench your thirst.
As is standard for the until recently faceless producer, no one knew about this new EP, Rodent, until it appeared on Bandcamp a few hours ago. It bears the standard “Burial EP” artwork, meaning a nondescript 12” record label-style circle bearing all relevant info, and that’s about it for accompanying bells and whistles. Burial has always seemed to view other accoutrements— press releases, liner notes, artwork, pre-release announcements— as superfluous, and that doesn’t seem like it’ll change anytime soon.
Rodent consists of a title track and a remix composed by Burial’s label boss at Hyperdub, Kode9. At a combined length of just over nine minutes, it’s the shortest EP Burial’s ever released, and will thusly be pressed on a 10”, rather than his standard 12”, record. Don’t let the length and lack of multiple original songs fool you though— Rodent’s still very much worth the price of admission. Burial and Kode9 turn in very different versions, the first of which is a vocal and horn-led throwback to mid-2000s UK garage, and the latter a hypermodern drum n bass jam highlighted by some intriguingly fucked up bass tones. Hate to say it, but Kode9 might win this round.
You can buy Rodent digitally over on Bandcamp right now. According to Hyperdub, the 10” will be “available from around 22nd September,” so keep your eyes peeled for that.
