Joe James has opened his account for 2024 with a new double release, No Drums Just Pain. The two songs, "Tony Stark" and "The Poems Of Joseph Knecht", are exactly as the two-tracker's title describes.

Without drums to drive the tracks forward, we get Joe's musings over sombre piano riffs and unrushed, fleeting basslines. Whether it's R&Drill or KwolleM's mellow grime production, Joe James has been one of the scene's most charismatic figures on the mic for some time, and No Drums Just Pain adds two more examples to the list.

Joe has made his name with a relentless work rate, but we might get less output from him in the coming months because, as he said on Twitter, "no more EPs" as he's in "album mode now". A debut album will surely come with high expectations and much anticipation, but there's little doubt that the prolfic MC will deliver.