North Luna

North Luna sounds like what you’d expect from Trellion and Sniff from the off, from the spacey, looped soundscapes of ‘Cape Horn Fever’ to the chopped-up film dialogue and the faster, harder hitting bangers. Except this time around it all seems turned up a notch - the snares harder, the tempo faster and the 'dumb' even dumber. The mostly in-house production glides from one track to the next, lending itself perfectly to the pair’s lazy flows and their own brand of lyrics.

More than anything though, this album probably marks the point where the duo’s sound, aesthetic and image all came together most coherently. The EPs they released before - Strange Harvest and The House and The Brain - were clearly a step in this direction, but the Trellion and Sniff that seems so familiar, from image to lyrical content, is more precise and perfected on this album.

It was received as one of the best UK hip hop efforts out there. The Quietus included it in their top hip hop records of 2013, alongside the likes of Earl Sweatshirt, Kanye West and Pusha T. The fact that it’s littered with Sheffield references and appearances from local artists, like Rawkid on the insanely good ‘Le Chambre’, goes to show how interesting and diverse music in this city can be.

It’s hard to imagine albums like North Luna reaching the audience and acclaim they deserve if it wasn’t for labels like Bad Taste. But without artists like Trellion and Sniff, it’s even harder to imagine the Sheffield music scene being so much fun.

George Springthorpe