Labrinth

Electronic Earth appeared in 2012. Let the Sunshine, Last Time and Express Yourself show different ways of placing a bright pop vocal inside electronic production. The songs have a directness which keeps the detailed studio work from becoming the only thing the listener notices.

Earthquake, featuring Tinie Tempah, gives the low end and the rhythmic gestures a much larger scale. Beneath Your Beautiful, with Emeli Sandé, takes another route, allowing the voices and the melody to carry a more exposed arrangement. The contrast makes the album’s range clear.

The striking thing is how readily Labrinth can change his place in a track. He can sound like a lead singer in front of the arrangement, or become one layer among several harmonies and electronic textures.

That flexibility gives the music a dramatic quality. A small vocal sound can prepare the entrance of a much larger passage, and an instrumental break can feel like a continuation of the singing. Production and performance are closely connected decisions.

In 2018, Labrinth formed LSD with Sia and Diplo, with the group’s album following in 2019. His work on the music for Euphoria opened another setting in the same period, giving his interest in atmosphere and dramatic shifts a screen context.

The early solo singles remain useful because the central instinct is already present. A song can be immediately approachable and still leave room for a surprising sound, a change of scale or a voice arriving from somewhere unexpected in the mix.