Listen: Bayou - "Thugs"

A walloping synth loop circles as Hari declares “Thugs, they want you/they won’t want to forget it,” on the chorus. Starting with that simple foundation, it builds up throughout the track with piano, an off-time clapping beat and a range of synth patterns that sound like Nights Out-era Metronomy. It’s every bit as assertive as ‘Airlock’ despite Hari proclaiming on the track “I don’t know myself”. With ‘Thugs’, Bayou has cemented the idiosyncrasies of his wonky pop sound.

Bayou’s debut mixtape Loopback is out on May 12 via Double Denim Records – produced and recorded by Hari himself in studios in London and Liverpool.