Album Review: DXST (Illegal Version) // Zoutr
Innovative producer Zoutr is back with his new Deluxe album DXST (Illegal Version. The album clocks in at around 37 minutes and demonstrates Zoutr’s talent in creating fresh beats, which you’ve never heard before. The beats create an atmosphere similar to The Alchemists’ stunning album A Doctor, Painter, & Alchemist Walk into a Bar. This deluxe album is the follow up to Zoutr’s debut album DXST which features extended beats.
What keeps this album fresh is the array of talent from the Nottingham music scene that’s littered across the record. This includes Snowy on ‘Syreens’, who brings a grime flow to a slow, spaced out beat. This is very refreshing and this style works very well. The slow atmosphere makes the track more minimalistic and ambient. On the other hand, ‘LKSTP’ is more introspective because it features atmospheric chanting. Shivaz sums up a lot of peoples feelings with a calm but effective delivery: “We need to seek hope / the world’s a mess and my mental state’s broke.” 17th Assasin weighs in on these feelings by taking things in a political direction, talking about all the things that have affected the country this year (masks and social distancing, police brutality, and division).
There is a lot of variation on this album, which represents the diversity on show. For example, ‘Kings in Nubia’ featuring Daniel Waithe is another strong track. It’s a positive song, which talks about how the protagonist doesn’t relate to the elite. It is both introspective and inspiring because he can build his own future.
This extended version contains some additional content. These include some chilled out beats with some video-game style loops. I think they fit in nicely with Zoutr’s style because the beats are very creative.
Listen to the album here: https://zoutr.bandcamp.com/track/dxst-illegal-version
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos