Mount Kimbie’s opening gambit for Hot Flush just may be the most anticipated release for the label in recent memory, having garnered considerable buzz after favourable airplay from the inimitable Mary Anne Hobbs, and Rob Booth, with his Electronic Explorations podcast. This one may ruffle the feathers of the dubstep purist – a tangent that Hot Flush seem increasingly keen to pursue in recent times as releases have expanded to encompass techno, wonky hip hop hybrids and beyond.

Mount Kimbie’s debut doesn’t simply fall into any of the above categories and is all the more for it. The EP opens with Maybes, the track that has been getting the lion’s share of airplay, and will no doubt be familiar to devotees of the aforementioned radio shows. It’s unmistakable intro is at once droning and uplifting in equal measure, sounding like the ominous offspring between a fog horn and a piano. This motif repeats throughout the track, is offset with a series of oddly pitched, indecipherable vocals; it’s the kind of thing the catch-all term “electronica” was invented for. The juxtaposition of these elements is indeed strange, and kind of works, albeit in a suitably strange way.

Taps has a clink clank sound which immediately evokes images of dripping water, sinks and pipes – as if some way inspired its own title. As much as one is loath to use the term, such clattering percussion is the sort of sound many would readily associate with IDM. Graciously, Mount Kimbie bring a warmth to their music which often eludes many operating under that much maligned acronym, wrapping Taps in layers of rising pads to counterbalance the mechanical cadence of it’s beats.

Vertical is slathered with swathes of synths before chimes, bells and percussion stumble and tumble throughout the piece. Here Mount Kimbie tip toe between awkward tweeness and navel gazing, and subsequently this is the least likable of the four tracks.The EP rounds off nicely with the effortlessly delicate William, with fuzzed keys and distant pianos that evoke an ever so feint recollection of Burial’s own smeared melodies. What alternately sounds like fishing reels, skateboards and factory machinery create a loosely percussive element, before a barely audible, brief vocal enters the mix. The ultimate effect is melancholy and oddly charming.

Mount Kimbie’s debut is an uncompromising salvo. None of the tracks on offer here make any concessions to dancefloor conventions, much less dubstep ones. What is certain is that Hot Flush refuse to pander to any expectations of the growing dubstep fansbase, instead opting to lead the way with increasingly idiosyncratic releases. The warmth with which this release has been received is an encouraging sign of that audience’s continued willingness to embrace such sounds – an omen which bodes well both for the future of Hot Flush, and the many genres it releases.

Mount Kimbie Maybes is released on Hot Flush, and is distributed in Australia through Inertia.