DOK f/ Terror Danjah: "Hysteria"

When a circular from one of your favourite labels says they’re releasing a song called “Hysteria,” your mind jumps to conclusions. At first I thought that Hyperdub had finally gone kablooey and had drunkenly signed Def Leppard, meaning a new mutant offshoot of electro had been spawned: defstep. Then I thought, “Nah, no way could a poodle perm go three minutes with this bank of woofers.” Then I read that the track in question was actually a Terror Danjah split, and relaxed in the knowledge that the Gremlinz (2009) tsar would avoid ripped denim like the plague. His take on hysteria forms the flipside of Bruzin VIP—the latest twelve to pass out from Fort Dub—and it sees him working with grime hero DOK for only the second time this year. Fingers crossed this marks the start of a long and bountiful relationship. I’d love to see the word “terror” iced onto a wedding cake.

A suspiciously cheeky b-side for two of dubstep’s deadliest middleweights, “Hysteria” packs a dance vibe that adds sparkle to the Hyperdub roster. Sure, the roster sparkled in the past with the likes of Ikonika and Burial, but this is a different kind of sparkle; intersecting superclub lasers as opposed to to cartoon squeaks or faulty neon. From a carefully sewn loop of Eurocheese comes a beat that takes off, trips over and staggers, gangster strings and lurching synthetics adding a Virus Syndicate twist to its step. Terror’s computerised West Indian vocals then bark and drawl around the verses, while D.O.K. brings the broken Ecstasy he last used when he cranked up Bipolar (2010). The whole thing is as vibrant as an old Amiga keyboard game and I say that as someone who confidently spent most of the nineties indoors—in three minutes this duo crack out the sweat, whistles, and augmented bass of a brutal night on the dance floor. It’ll take more than Def Leppard to keep up with “Hysteria,” let alone try and outshine it. It’d take more than all the eighties hair metal in the world.