Available on: Def Jam digital download

That Terius Nash had a thing for messing up a girl’s hair first became apparent on 2007’s ‘Playing In Her Hair’, from his Love/Hate debut; but that piece of swing-snap-bounce smoothness merely skirted the issue in comparison to ‘Sweat It Out’s obsessive fixation.

It’s perhaps unsurprising from the man who has described his approach to production as “so I can destroy this perfect picture I painted…that’s what I do with everything.” In the context of his Love vs Money concept album, it’s the carnal interlude between glitzy guest star singles and the sturm und drang of the emotional and sonic upheaval to come; in isolation, it’s a fine, R Kelly-indebted slow jam which finds Terius sailing as close to the wind as he dares while still carrying off his seduction. He opens by mentioning another woman – alarm bells! How many dudes know their girl’s hairdresser by name?

But no matter – “Call Leticia, your beautician – cuz your hair is gon’ need fixing” is about as great a pre-coital prelude as you’ll get. Terius parries his paramour’s prissiness with panache – “Don’t be mad at me, you shoulda got braids” – and in between the wisecracks, his attention to detail consistently rings true. ‘Sweat It Out’ climaxes with the realization that “she got it fixed just so I can fuck it up”, releasing an explosion of liquid, shooting synths and exclamatory chorales; and finally sinks into calm again, with time for just one more inappropriate simile: “Thank you for the birthday cake; look at you, lookin’ like a milkshake.” Never has a facial sounded so sweet.

Alex Macpherson