Dam Mantle seems a man of sporadic bursts of intense productivity. Inhabiting a musical landscape where albums aren’t commercially necessary or entirely sought after, Glasgow-based Tom Marshall hasn’t yet been burdened with the pressures of that traditionally tricky debut album. The past year-and-a-bit has seen the electronic producer release two EPs: Grey and Purple Arrow. The former exhibited Mantle’s proficiency in manipulating breaks and beats, while the latter, characterised by its bubbling sub-bass and high resonant arpeggios, showed a side to the producer far more pure to the dubstep part of that post-Dubstep genre Marshall has been rightly or wrongly unblinkingly lumped into.

WE, the first output by new London label, promoters and general creative types GetMe! Records, steps things up another notch – it’s focus being less to provoke a reaction out of its listeners, less to make us dance and more to make us take a step back and get lost in the ambience. We’re asked to be patient for once as Mantle slows things down a few BPMs, treating us to an aural experience far more laid-back than its predecessors. There’s no more of the teasing tempo changes and sporadic drops of ‘Theatre’ or ‘Broken Slumber’, instead everything seems to blend together far more naturally.

The ten-and-a-half minute long, epic title-track ‘WE’ displays this difference perfectly. Just like how slowing down a Justin Bieber track or Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ a few thousand times can show how even the most unlikely of places can unknowingly inhabit hidden depths of beauty within, the same can be seen of this opener. If it weren’t for the twitching drums, clicking hi-hats and the occasional sample of a church bell striking midnight, then ‘WE’ would sound a lot like Mantle has taken a rare b-side, slowed it down a bit, stretched it’s three minute blitz of glitches, resulting in electronically-tinged Mogwai-length post-rock. Instead, the track is perfectly orchestrated by Marshall and manages to keep a perfect balance between the foreboding and the mesmerising.

‘Meet Me In The Ambulance’ picks up right where the opener leaves us, almost blending into the former track. Drum hits jilt and flicker, the bass pulsates eerily and a crooked synth oscillates as atmospheric hums create a sense of pitch blackness. ‘Sonambulate, My Dear’ meanwhile is equally as unnerving, a series of phone interference and digital feedback played over a bedding of echoing moans and murmurs, like the daydream haze of drifting asleep while connecting to the internet.

Finale and lead single ‘Not A Word’ is probably the closest to the Mantle of old and also the only non-instrumental track on the release, despite what the song’s title itself may suggest. The hip-hop orientated lead vocal flows thick as Marshall cuts, expands, distorts and splices in a way that feels like he’s trudging through a reservoir of knee-high sludge. While it’s probably a track that would gain the biggest reaction in a live setting, on record it’s instead a song that feels out of place surrounded by neighbouring tracks of lo-tempo atmospheric euphoria.

The young Glaswegian has voiced his frustration at failed efforts at making a full-length, scrapping previous attempts on multiple occasions. His aim now after this release is to jump straight back into writing and to have another crack at creating a long-play. But considering the quality and strength on display in WE , plus how differing it is to all that the producer has created before and perhaps all that will come after, this seems somewhat unnecessary. The EP shows Dam Mantle creating a stark and bleak landscape; a mesmerising desert plain distinguished enough to stand alone.

WE EP by Dam Mantle