Bicep - SLUG [2LP]

Belfast duo Bicep return with SLUG, their third album and first full-length since Isles, pressed across two 140-gram LPs with a digital download card.

Isles arrived in 2021 and carried Bicep's club-trained sound to a much wider audience. SLUG goes wider again. Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson made it during a stretch of studio isolation, digging back through their own archive of unfinished ideas, and it moves between rave, breakbeat, vocal-led songs and ambient passages. The title comes from the contrast between a land slug and its underwater cousin, a reminder to look past first impressions.

The guest list is long and carefully chosen. Eartheater and Saskia both appear on Ultra, Lauren Duffus and SOARR feature on Gas, and Kehina features on Equarium. Clark, the experimental producer, shares credit on Viper, which also features Saskia.

Those collaborators, along with contributors such as Julia Kent and Zosia Jagodzinska, give the record a broad cast of voices and textures, yet the melodic, euphoric core that first won the duo a following remains intact. It is a dance record that rewards close listening as much as a big system.

Due in 2027, SLUG shows a duo still curious about where electronic music can go once it leaves the club.