Andy Stott – We Stay Together (2011) [Modern Love] // Grade: A

Andy Stott created a sort of collective shell-shock with Passed Me By. The EP hit hard and sudden: A collection of heavily drugged club tracks that both captivated and confounded those who’d followed the producer’s twists on dub-techno over the years. The new, primordial direction wasn’t entirely without precedent — Stott had been flirting with similar ideas in very minute fits and starts — but it was enough to snap a few heads upright.

Now, just six months later, he’s back with another take on the lurching, humid sound. We Stay Together is something of a companion piece to Passed Me By, but it’s not just a too-soon rehash; Stott’s coming at us with an even tougher ferocity here, counterbalancing the oozing ambience with hotter, more visceral beats. From the opening hiss and scratch of “Submission” to the sultry counter-rhythms of “Poser” and the warm, muffled filter of “Cherry Eye”, We Stay Together is congealed by a penetrating darkness, this heat-soaked terror, all drugged and luscious. It’s like heroin, tugging at your focus. Blurry, then not. Think Burial on the Equator.

And maybe it’s all an experiment. Andy Stott could move right past this deep, treacherous excursion into something more glittering and frantic, more reminiscent of the sound he’d honed before. But experiment or no, this excursion is essential. The one-two punch of Passed Me By and We Stay Together, the insular and terrifying world of them? Not to be missed.

- Rue Sauvage