Words: James Keith
Photography: Sam Hiscox

Few artists in this world have evolved quite as dramatically as Mumdance. First emerging in the mid-late 2000s, his early productions are wildly different to his more recent noise/industrial-influenced output. The Mum Decent EP for Mad Decent, for example, was colourful, funky and playful—a far cry from the confrontational abrasiveness of “Cirrus” or the stop-start awkwardness of “Take Time” with Novelist. Since those early days he’s taken inspiration from the worlds of happy hardcore, industrial, IDM, ambient, UK funky, dub, grime and countless other sounds.

Recent years have also seen Mumdance stray from this club-friendly releases in a different way. Where his earliest drops were usually EPs or singles—short and snappy ideas that cut straight to the quick—recent years have seen him explore longer formats, whether it’s collaborating with the likes of Logos or WIFE (joining the latter as Bliss Signal). That pursuit of more experimental avenues has given us some pretty wild music, too. The Bliss Signal album, for example, is noisy, challenging and at times downright abrasive. He’s also been known to dabble with modular synths and other seriously impressive hardware.

Don’t let that fool you, though, because throughout even the most experimental productions, Mumdance still maintains some infectious rhythms and subtle little nods to the club. Take “Cirrus”, a track which uses a distorted, droning sound to stutter and bounce in a way that’s both hypnotic and infectious, even threatening to get your feet moving. Even the grime collabs with the likes of Riko Dan and Novelist, which were firm favourites in the club when they dropped, are mostly made up of abrasive sonics in awkward, off-kilter structures. The point is: whatever the subgenre, sound or style he’s operating in, Mumdance will always challenge himself and his audience in equal measure.

Here are 20 reasons to love Mumdance.