Coming at a time where, let’s face it, we’re all playing more than our fair share of board games, fresh drop ‘Monopoly’ from Brighton-based duo Dashwuud feels rather aptly titled. Following the release of their tripped-out debut single ‘Limitless’ in December last year, ‘Monopoly’ delves deeper into these vocal contortions and dreamy soundscapes. Palpably conflicted, Jonny curates a haunting atmosphere with deep undulations and skitzed-out inputs that would feel right at home on Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’, mirroring the gradual unhinging of lead rapper Dashwuud’s delivery as he sinks further and further into disillusioned ruminations on inequality and contemporary society. Emotion is thick in his voice here as, helped along by raw and drawn out vocal strains, Dashwuud’s buried sound appears to be reaching out for some genuine connection in the face of this bleak reality.
Between their tripped-out riffs, vocal contortions and socially-conscious messages full of rule-defiant reverb, it is perhaps not surprising that Jonny also doubles as a part of fellow Brighton-based psychedelic-dreampop group Feral Youth. What is equally significant, however, is how Dashwuud also manages to stay in tune with current trends in UK hip hop, with a stumbling flow that makes careful use of dead space and experimental delivery on lines like “tu-turn the page” that feels powerfully reminiscent of Slowthai or Benny Mails.
Drawing together insights into both themselves and wider
society, Dashwuud’s distinctive soundscapes and dystopian observations emerge
as a rich prism with which to explore such experiences and no doubt recent
events have only added fuel to their fire… Or should I say property to their
proverbial real estate?
