Nyra - Best of Ep

Never Learnt

‘Best Of’ is the first release on Cian Frawley and Dean Mushin’s new vinyl only imprint, Never Learnt. For the label’s debut outing, young Sheffield based producer Nyra serves upthree raw grooves that follow the pattern for dusty, loop-based house we’ve seen re-emerge in the last few years. The releases opens with ‘Funf’, a throbbing sub and off beat snare are washed through with a swirling synth that combines to create a woozy New York house feel. It’s more of a nudge than a push though and it fails to maintain momentum or interest.

‘Best Of’ follows a similar course but, despite garnering more attention from the DJ’s, suffers from the same lack of purpose. A solid enough groove builds around a deep bass and heavy kicks that capture you momentarily before languishing back into a sober middle ground that again fails to ignite. To close, ‘Nam Pla’ succeeds in injecting a bit more variety and life intoproceedings. A slightly meaner touch, coupled with tribal flourishes, creates a more bristling sound that feels oddly closer to Fachwerk than Workshop.

The EP is competently produced but is far too functional and reliant on a faithfully followed template to really set the pulse racing. There is a fine line between hypnotising loops and boring predictability and overall this release falls on the wrong side of that track. Whilst it shows some promising signs there is not enough to make it memorable or distinguish it from the slew of sound-a-likes. More filler than killer.

Olly Chubb