Panch Briones, who creates music as Santa Muerte,drops ‘Eslabon’, his debut EP on Hyperdub. Born in Mexico and raised in the Sierra, deep in the mountains in a society culturally split between Spanish culture and indigenous Mexican, he now lives in Houston, where his melodic take on dance music is inspired by the mythology and religion of Mexican culture crossed with the bass heavy sound of the city’s hip hop scene.

Opener ‘Tonantzin’, named after the Aztec Goddess, has a low slung bass heavy drum grid that begins with a prayer in Nahuatl over zig-zagging synths and emotive piano. ‘Coahuiltecan’ channels tribal polyrhythmic drums into murky screwed hip hop. ‘Emma’ is both an industrial and highly emotive soundscape, clanking between drums and martial arts samples.

Finally, ‘Laberinto’ (“Labyrinth”) splices intricate UK funky-ish / Afro-house rhythms and warping synths, breaking down into a lush 4/4 melodic section.

With its fizzy, emotional synths, Santa Muerte’s ‘Eslabon’ EP recalls and updates an earlier period of classic Hyperdub releases