(Ninja Tune/Inertia)

Coldcut’s eagerly-anticipated new album ‘Sound Mirrors’ certainly appears to be polarising listeners accustomed to the head Ninjas’ turntable-laden signature approach of past releases, the sampladelic palette of previous albums such as ‘Let Us Play’ replaced by a focus on ‘songs’ anchored by guest vocal performances, with not a filched sample or turntable scratch in evidence. This second single to be lifted from ‘Sound Mirrors’ is certainly no different, with More and Black opting for a delicate glitch-strewn folk-blues approach lush with acoustic guitar textures and centered around the lyrics of guest vocalist John Matthias, who’s probably best known for his album ‘Small Town Shining’, which was released on Matthew Herbert’s Accidental label a few years back.

The original album version of ‘Man In a Garage’ opens proceedings here, with Matthias’ weary-sounding gravelly vocals gliding over an intricate backdrop of feathery blues guitar licks and spidery-sounding clicking minimal beats as he depicts the tale of a modern-day everyman frozen by a panic attack in his garage on the way to work (“I just dialed this number, won’t you help me someone please / I just dialed this number with the phone book on my knees”), the lyrical themes reflecting the overall motif of individuals feeling the pressure of modern society present thoughout ‘Sound Mirrors.’ While it’s certainly an unexpected new direction for Coldcut musically, it’s also undeniably one of the strongest singles that they’ve released so far, the lyrical hooks catching themselves in your head after just a couple of listens, resulting in a track that seems easily poised for mainstream crossover, while maintaining the duo’s reputation for production that thinks outside the square – in a manner very similar to the likes of RJD2 and DJ Shadow circa ’ The Private Press.’

Snap Ant (who’ve apparently been championed by the likes of Ladytron) completely reshape ‘Man In A Garage’ into sneering punk-funk infused electro garage rock in what’s more a cover version than a remix, crashing live drums, fat analogue synths and overdriven guitars providing an energetic backdrop for some vocal harmonies that call to mind a stray hint of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, while Bonobo opts for a dancefloor-centric breaks approach on his remix, layering the original’s vocals and trailing, phased-out guitars over a snapping backdrop of swelling synthetic bass, steppy-sounding breakbeats and metallic cowbell percussion – while it’s certainly a strong reworking that easily provides the most obviously dancefloor-inclined offfering here, it does slightly disappoint in that sense that much of Bonobo’s trademark textural lushness appears to have been stripped back in favour of a nu-skool breaks approach. Arch eccentric Daedelus meanwhile reworks ‘Man In A Garage’ into strangely centreless-sounding chattering typewriter rhythms, reversed instrumental elements and bleeping electronics, Matthias’ strangely disembodied-sounding vocals gliding over the mesmerising backdrop of shuffling rhythms and cut-up samples in a manner that’s sure to be immediately familiar to fans of his excellent ‘Exquisite Corpse’ album of last year, before Lemon Jelly’s Nick Franglen closes proceedings with what is for my money, the strongest reworking of ‘Man In A Garage’ on offer here, reshaping the original into seven minutes of brooding orchestration, howling slide guitars and shuffling downbeat drums, in a widescreen atmospheric reinterpretation that manages to take the original to a completely different and considerably more ominous place whilst also re-emphasising the emotionally exhausted tone and sense of disconnection present in Matthias’ lyrics.

An excellent second single to be lifted from ‘Sound Mirrors’ that maintains the Coldcut ethic of remixes that bend the original into a variety of completely different genres – no doubt, your stance on ‘Man In A Garage’ is likely to depend on your reaction in general to the increasingly song-driven approach taken by More and Black on ‘Sound Mirrors.’ For my money, while ‘Man In A Garage’ is easily perhaps the most radio-friendly track poised for mainstream crossover that the duo have released in years, they’ve also astutely balanced a firm grasp of catchy hooks with a forward-thinking production approach that shows their creative vision undiluted.

Check out http://www.coldcut.tv and http://www.ninjatune.net.