Resist

Album Review

Kosheen, one of the new millennium's brightest junglists, makes a fierce introduction with their Kinetic Records debut, Resist. The title itself boasts a confidence and a desire to be unclassifiable, and Kosheen lives up to the test. They bring in classic new wave synths and mold breakbeat grooves into something dramatic. The first single, "Hide U," blasts with thick electronic breaks, and Sian Evans' soulful vocals are tragic but endearing with the fact that this track is tangible and raw. Kosheen is attuned with what makes them become a trio — and that is emotion. The human quality found on Resist suggests their powerful disposition inside drum'n'bass, but also in tweaking electronic music. "Hungry" swirls in acoustic-friendly backdrops and kitschy house loops, and it's the anguish felt in Evans' voice that serves a warning of someone's spiritual disarray. "Slip and Slide (Suicide)" takes things a bit further. It's a massive bombast of syrupy jungle hits, a fall into club land, but a sophisticated call to poor behavior. Kosheen taps into what's internally affective. Resist is stylish and literate in doing so, but also a delectable addition to what emerged from Bristol in the early '90s.