Mura Masa - Raw Youth Collage

The Guardian 40

(Polydor)

You can’t accuse the 23-year-old Guernsey producer Mura Masa of false advertising. Raw Youth Collage, his second album, is bitty and a little raw – notably Deal Wiv It, a persuasive 2019 track in which the punkoid exclamations of slowthai set a tone. Another bouncy track, No Hope Generation, manifests as a string of cliches, however; its punk-lite rush fails to engage.

Like many tracks here, it features the producer born Alex Crossan as vocalist. Mura Masa’s stated aim for the album is how aural nostalgia has become a coping mechanism to ward off the complexities of the present day. As mission statements go, it’s promising.