Bristol duo QZB have spent the past few years carving out a reputation as one of the UK’s most dependable drum & bass partnerships, and their new EP Perspectives Vol.2 — out now on Kasra’s Critical Music label — finds them in typically sharp, techy form. It’s a two-track affair, barely eight minutes long, built entirely around the vocal firepower of MC Rider Shafique.
The Perspectives series has become something of a showcase for the Critical family, handing the label’s artists space to reframe its sound in their own image. Vol.2 is QZB’s turn at the wheel, and it’s a compact, confident statement: two tracks of rolling, tech-leaning drum & bass that lean on the duo’s trademark precision — crisp, tightly-programmed breaks, weighty sub bass and a ruthless focus on the dancefloor.
Opener Perfectly Aligned gets straight down to business. A taut, metallic intro gives way to a rolling groove, and Rider Shafique’s voice drops in with the authority of a man used to commanding a room, his rhymes riding the beat with ease as filtered pads and a muscular bassline do the heavy lifting underneath. Futurecool is the darker of the pair, its arrangement choppier and more heads-down; the MC tightens his flow to match, spitting over a flexing sub bass and skittering percussion that keeps the energy high without ever letting the track lose its cool.
Two-track EPs can sometimes feel like an appetiser, but Perspectives Vol.2 works as a complete, coherent statement. QZB’s production is precise throughout — there’s no dead weight, no filler — and giving Rider Shafique the microphone proves a smart move, his presence lending the record a live, vocal-led energy that sets it apart from the functional techy drum & bass cluttering the scene. It’s a brief but hugely effective stop on Critical’s 2021 run, and a reminder that sometimes less really is more.
