Despite having completed countless productions, and in the process totally transformed the very definition of modern dub, On-U Sound’s Adrian Sherwood has actually released very little music solo, under his own name. While he first manned the desk in 1977, for Creation Rebel’s Dub From Creation, there’s only been 2003’s Never Trust A Hippy, 2006’s Becoming A Cliche, and nothing since Survival & Resistance in 2012. However that’s set to change with an EP titled The Grand Designer, which both relaunches On-U’s coveted 10” “Disco Plate” series and also serves as a teaser / taster for a “soon come” album.* The are 4 tracks, one featuring the late, legendary Lee Scratch Perry, but for now only the titular tune has been shared. A seismic, shape-shifting tour de force, in the space of 3 minutes it fixes flashes of folky, North African / Middle Eastern 6-string picking, metal / fuzzbox shredding and violin to a bionic bogle beat. There are pinpoints of poignant Erik Satie-esque piano, distress signals, machine gun fire, Jah Shaka sirens and tons of tape effects. Everything takes a turn at being twisted inside out, and the drums hit like compressed, collapsed explosions. The listener bombarded, mind blown by fleeting snatches and snippets spatially panning from all sides. Boom and they’re gone. Leaving you no time to question, “Did I hear that or not?” before the next detail comes whizzing along. While this might sound like a system / sensory overload, it’s an incredibly engineered trip that seriously demonstrates Sherwood’s undeniable mastery at the controls. 

Adrian Sherwood’s The Grand Designer can be ordered directly from On-U Sound.