STILL SLIPPING VOL.1 by JOY ORBISON

(RH Record of the week review at the bottom of this text)

‘still slipping vol.1’ is the debut full-length project from Joy Orbison. Fans of Joy O’s DJ sets and radio shows will already be aware of his diverse tastes and inspirations, represented here through a roll call of delicately curated, mainly UK, collaborators that include Herron, James Massiah, Bathe, Léa Sen, Goya Gumbani and TYSON. Just as important are the voices of Joy Orbison's family - mum, dad, sister Sarah, uncle Frankie, uncle Keith (recently departed), auntie Helen and cousins Lola, Mia and Leighann, who was the first person to introduce him to drum and bass and garage as a kid and stars on the mixtape’s cover art. They appear throughout the record via a series of voice notes, his only contact with his family during this year of worldwide lockdown and an intimate, vicarious glimpse into the personal world of an artist who has generally side-stepped the public gaze.

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Rush Hour Store Record of the week W32:

Despite being one of the defining figures in the UK underground for more than a decade, ‘still slipping vol. 1’ (written in lowercase) is Joy Orbison’s first ever longplayer.

Ever since his anthemic debut single ‘Hyph Mngo’, that was released by Hotflush in 2009, Joy O. has shown a remarkable versatility in styles and range, but all of his productions have one thing in common - they’re all firmly rooted in the finest UK tradition, echoing decades of UK garage, dubstep, bass, drum & bass and Sheffield-leaning IDM, yet never fully succumbing to any one of those styles.

With guest appearances by Herron, James Massiah, Bathe, Léa Sen, Gumbani and a host of family members (such as his cousin Leighann who introduced the young Joy O. to jungle and UK garage and graces the album’s cover and his parents, sister, uncles and aunties chatting and laughing throughout the album in a series of recorded messages and conversations) ‘still slipping’ is as much a UK as it is a family affair.

With only a few tracks aimed directly at the dancefloor (most notably the garagey ‘swag’ and the sultry Ibiza groover ‘better’, no caps used here), ‘still slipping’ is a grippingly intimate album that reflects both Joy O’s personal journey of the last decade and the last year and a half without serious partying. It’s a highly personal album that has ‘post-everything’ written over it in big letters. (RO)