Rival Dealer - EP

Nobody makes electronic music swoon like Burial, who mixes sorrow and bliss in a subtle club sound that is both banging and bittersweet. The UK producer's legacy runs deep, lending emotional heft to a dubstep style others have made bombastic over time, and none of his more faithful followers manage to strike the same balance. Rival Dealer, Burial's fourth EP since his 2007 album Untrue, expands his palette of blacks and grays. The title track borrows color from neon-streaked Nineties drum 'n' bass, with a high-energy pace that still sounds haunted and forlorn. Earnest alien vocals (a sample sings "I'm going to love you more than anyone") set an emotive tone that carries through the lilting "Hiders" and "Come Down To Us," a 13-minute ode to the joys of sharing in bleary sadness. There's a heart beating in Burial’s out-of-body sound, and Rival Dealer plays like an ashy memorial to a beat that lives on.