Over the past couple of years, Joshua Steele aka Flux Pavilion has been fighting his way to the top of the genre known as dubstep. Steadily growing with a stash of bass-heavy singles and EP’s Flux Pavilion is considered at the top of his game and considered as dubstep royalty along with Bassnectar, Datsik, Excision and Skrillex.
In 2011 alone, Flux dropped two of the UK’s biggest singles of the year, Bass Cannon and Superbad. In that same year, he co-founded Circus records alongside partners Doctor P and DJ Swan-E.
Thankfully, Flux Pavilion decided to start off 2013 with something original and his latest EP, Blow The Roof, shows off his talent for making fun, party music anthems.
Although Blow the Roof is technically an EP, it packs in eight songs which makes it a more substantial listen. Flux Pavilion’s purpose, first and foremost, “is to make people have fun”.
Opening track OneTwoThree (Make Your Body Wanna) starts with a clownish electro-keyboard riff that seems to laugh at the listener before throwing in some of the jumping bass and sub-bass thumps, as well as a Magic Mike sample (“Bass!”). Yes, this track is silly and simplistic, but the song creates a big dance track without taking itself too seriously, and that in itself is a great start.
For better or worse, though, this song and several others on the album take a step away from the popular dubstep sound. Tracks like Do or Die and Starlight do have the signature half-time breakdowns and pulsating bass that made dubstep famous, but the breakdowns are much lighter than what you would expect from, say, Skrillex or Bassnectar.
Of course there is still the fix for the heavier side of the spectrum with tracks like Blow the Roof and The Scientist for the bass heads. For those who tire of the whole dubstep phenomenon I Feel It mixes things up again, sounding more like Daft Punk with shimmering cymbals, bright synths, and, best of all, keyboard fugues.
Overall, this EP is a total win for Flux Pavilion and proves he is definitely a key figure to keep an eye on.