Available on: 2nd Drop 12″

While new album Routes and last year’s 38 EP saw London trio LV explore the back alleys and side-streets of London with rapper/poet Joshua Idehen, new track ‘Explode’ boasts a different sort of collaboration. Hosted, quite appropriately, by a different end of London’s sonic spectrum – 2nd Drop Records, the trio share credits with Message To Bears (producer/composer Jerome Alexander) and the delicate soul vocals of Zaki Ibrahim.

It’s a fairly minimal affair: quietly resonating synths and a simple 4/4 kick layered with fragile syncopated clacks mean there’s little to infringe on Ibrahim’s wholly absorbing vocals. Equally impressive is the singles remix package; as a release, ‘Explode’ owes so much to space and calm and this is expanded on beautifully by three – relatively disparate – offerings. Mothy opts for an airy affair, filling gaps with vaporous pads, Charlie Dark injects vitality with darting synth gasps and skipping, clicking drums whilst DJ Rum opts for a beautiful blend of stuttering kicks and languishing strings. No remix tops the beautiful simplicity of the original but each provides its own unique, vibrant take.

If you’ve become too embroiled in LV’s dark-humoured outings into the murk and grind of big city life then this is the antidote for you, a breezy and soulful meander through the lighter side of their sound. For the unfamiliar, ‘Explode’ is as good a place as any to become acquainted with this consistently impressive trio.

Mike Coleman