Hip-hop beats and electronica production over classic song structure - all in the same track, such a mix could be disastrous. But Stateless give a demonstration of how to avoid pitfalls with their fascinating Bloodstream EP.
The core band are augmented by a programmer and turntablist Kidkanevil and the result is a heady atmosphere of creation. But, unusually for an electronic crossover act, attention is paid to lyrical quality too. This the chorus of Bloodstream: "I think I might have inhaled you / I can feel you behind my eyes / You've gotten into my bloodstream / I can feel you flowing in me." It's a melange of influences - the hymnal qualities of Coldplay, the stark, otherworldly beauty of Sigur Ros.
The remaining tracks are no less intoxicating. Exit initially treads a path to vocal distortion and soupy drums - the kind of thing South were doing years ago, but better - before opening out into one of those expansive Coldplay chorus sections and a rousing finale that calls to mind Bjork's Play Dead.
Inscape, the third track, floats away on what sounds like reverse record beats and ebow, while Bluetrace discusses "the moments in between" - Stateless, weightless moments that are always filled with nuances of loveliness - before exploding into the kind of jazzy, beat-driven, Humphrey Lytleton-like strangulated trumpet part that became familiar on Radiohead's Kid A.
So Kid A/Amnesiac era Radiohead fans ought to like this. So should Kosheen aficionados. With The Bloodstream EP, Stateless suggest a singular creativity.
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