Adapting the androids from I, Robot and placing herself as the head for EP cover Drop 7, Little Simz is back. Experimental joys can be found within, the club-like mixtures on opener Mood Swings, the clanging underneath it all and the refinement of Simz’s lyrical intrigue continue. Focuses shift from those punches at a disagreeable culture and move towards danceability and patchy adaptations to a new genre. Little is better than an artist branching out after a heady time in the spotlight, with real quality from Simz on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert moved away. In its place, whining and grinding electronics, sudden ends and unfinished pieces come together as an attempt to move on the dance genre.
The likes of Fever feel half-baked and frustratingly close to solid – a constant trouble for this EP. Experimental tones have always been the core of Simz’s work ethic and this release soon devolves into electric repetition used to pad out the sparsely populated club rooms. Music you observe when ordering a drink at the quieter bar because waiting in a queue and listening to Gerry Cinnamon is a dire experience lived out all too much. But what if we were to step on that prodding dance floor, away from the club hits and poor perception of what constitutes modern indie classics. We may get the likes of Torch and SOS piping through the speakers instead, and what a change of pace it makes for. The latter has a familiarity to it, not just from listening through the preceding Drop 7 tracks but the fades and constant percussion feel comforting despite their freshness.
Those club mixtures and experimental turns take a backseat on EP closer Far Away, a piano-clad piece of emotionally clarified and intense proportions. Little Simz forms these EPs to reflect on a potential genre change, a lift from an artist who is not afraid to toy around with an influence they have not yet found space for. More should do it. The results are clear to hear on this. Far Away strikes through as one of the better tracks of an expressive and intense EP which is boiled down to tests of rhythm and how Simz may fit her voice to each track. Power feels abandoned just shy of a minute, while SOS gets a better run-through and gives a neat lyrical boost to Simz.
Far Away is the peak of this, a powerful collection of ultra-specifics, the cold pillows where a lover used to lay and the tears which form when thinking of them through the day, Simz deploys intense emotional spectacles and the result is a track which could easily slot into an electronic-themed project. Maybe this is the point. Simz tests the waters of a genre she is familiar with but has yet to chart herself, and hearing the thought process bubble through a release like this is a real treat. Not all of it works, nothing can be guaranteed of an artist striding through a genre and picking up some new tricks as they go, but hearing this process is far better than hiding it away. Drop 7 is an initially easy-going affair which soon turns its attention to the club scene and the fallout of attending.
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