- Ikonika can do one thing well, and she seems determined to beat it to death before moving on. Dckhdbtch, her second release away from her usual home at Hyperdub could easily be a leftover from debut LP Contact, Love, Want, Have. It's playful, fun, catchy, ultimately enjoyable, but there's a nagging feeling that Ikonika is on autopilot, languishing in an exhausted template that was decidedly quite limited to begin with.
Listen carefully, however, and you'll notice her sphere has widened; "Dckhdbtch"'s atmospherics are pried open, and the iridescent riffs are given full room to shine: strings actually sounding like strings, et al. It's this new sense of atmosphere that saves the EP, as its other two tracks find much inspiration in their free-range settings. Again utilizing familiar sounds, "Ingredients" is far more lifelike and realistic than we're used to from Ikonika, slapback drums and off-key piano resounding in a fantastically large echo chamber as those familiar melodies waft in, now soaked in luxurious echo rather than vacuum-sealed dry.
It's the EP's brave step into unfamiliar territory that proves its most promising; "Shouldn't Be Here" recycles the riff of "Dckhdbtch" and buries it alive, throwing ominous strings and haunting vocals on top of the dirt heap in almost mocking fashion. It's a darkness not usually explored in Ikonika's permanent-daylight (or at least neon-lit) world. Its most affecting dimension might not even be readily apparent: human vocal sounds in an Ikonika track are not a common occurrence, though judging from the results, maybe it's something she should try more often.
Tracklist A1 Dckhdbtch
B1 Ingredients
B2 Shouldn't Be Here