Mister Lies – Mowgli

Genre names are often merely annoyances that get in the way of a truly original piece of work, so let's get a few out of the way first. Mowgli contains traces of post-dubstep, folktronica, lo-fi, retro-futurist electro, house and chillwave in its DNA, but never settles on one style long enough to be pigeonholed effectively – and it is all the more enjoyable for its mercurial approach.

Chicago-based artist Nick Zanka, at the tender age of twenty, has hit upon an original and diverse sound which will appeal to fans of bands like Four Tet, Stumbleine and Flying Lotus. Restlessly inventive, layered with field recordings and found sounds, and always favouring ideas over studio sheen and polish, Mowgli is a bold and ambitious debut, rich with emotional textures evoking the interplay of light and shade, melody and abstract atmospherics.