Arp 101 – the soft-centered boogie alias of drum’n’bass feller Alix Perez [above] – has been bubbling away quite nicely for a couple of years now.

His new single however, ‘U’, is a real step up from what’s come before. Less obvious than similar recent work by Krystal Klear and Hudson Mohawke, it’s a slow-burning cyber-pop ballad that kind of feels like the missing link between Dam-Funk and early Darkstar, and currently has us in knots. It even sounds like there’s a sly sample of the intro from Teengirl Fantasy’s ‘Cheaters’ at one point, but maybe that’s just us getting carried away.

Arp 101 – ‘U’