Bedknobs & Boomkicks

West London born Mali Larrington-Nelson AKA Shy One has had an idiosyncratic approach to her recording career. She made innovative grime in her early teens (2006-9) which was only released over a decade later. She had a flurry of releases in the mid 10s, including this album, then another break of three years — and then really begun to find her feet as a producer and remixer in the 2020s. Partly these fits and starts were because she was busy as a radio and club DJ, but a lot of it seems to be that she was waiting for the world to catch up with her. This album is completely outside of its time: though it has superficial hints of “post dubstep,” UK funky and the creative fringes of grime, it’s got a rhythmic sophistication and natural sense of melody that really wouldn’t make sense until the London jazz scene started fusing with these bass music styles over the following years. Sometimes the clatter of the beats is rough and ready — certainly Shy One would finesse her productions much more later on — but the depth, the emotion and the inventiveness here shows a fully-formed, immense talent.