Copeland – Because I’m Worth It

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Eventually, the crackle is replaced by an off-kilter chest-shaking beat and a squelching synth that could only be made by someone who’s spent time on the Hyperdub label – what comes next, though, is pure Inga Copeland mischievousness: an ear-piercing high pitched whine cuts across “Faith OG X” and continues for three minutes until the track ends. It gives you no idea of who copeland (small “c”) is as a solo artist, no glimpse behind the façade she and Dean Blunt raised in Hype Williams and no idea of what might come next on this record.

Whether releasing records as Hype Williams or Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland, you did have some kind of sense of what to expect; One Nation was narcotic electronic music indebted to hip hop, while Black Is Beautiful came over like a dubby 4AD record but here it’s altogether more difficult to know where Copeland might take this project of hers. “advice to young girls” actually does hark back to the sound of Black Is Beautiful; with the help of another man of mystery, Actress, Copeland melds a stumbling beat to woozy electronics before adding to the unsettling atmosphere with intoned vocals about London.

The crisp drum and bass of “insult 2 injury” (our Inga likes to mess about with her capitalisation) takes us someone where completely different again, the skittering beat and horror soundtrack atmospherics recalling the cinematic scope of Lee Bannon’s recent album but with a lighter, less aggressive touch. Closing track “l’oreal” repeats that style but adds a sensuousness that’s never really been too apparent in her previous work. It’s a haunting track, one that you don’t mind having an unknowing slipperiness to it as you’re made to feel like you’re getting under the skin, or at least past the carefully constructed wall, of Inga Copeland.

In between those two tracks are other moments that make this curious journey worthwhile; “Fit 1” has a torch song quality to it, Copeland’s feline cooing underpinned by treated horn samples and a sharp, clapping beat while the radar signal pulse of “DILIGENCE” steadies what feels like improvised or stream of consciousness lyrics. The eastern-tinged percussion and vocal style found on “Inga” is sultry yet detached – just when you think you might be getting to know her better, Copeland balances out the personal with a fog of obscurity. I mean, the track is brilliant but it leaves you cold when there should be a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

With Because I’m Worth It we do get a sense of copeland as a solo artist and where her music might eventually end up; whether we know Inga Copeland any better or not, the jury remains out on that one. This record drops the veil just a touch, and while hardly catchy it is, like copeland, endlessly fascinating.