The union of Glasgow-based musicians Yungpunkstar and FezzBeats goes way back. And now they return with a new five-song EP, ‘Ice Kiss’, after releasing ‘Cinnamon’ with Berta Kennedy in April. 

This fresh drop serves as an ode to the first lockdown, which saw the pair first pen these tracks. The end product is testament to how they deftly maximised and capitalised on their creative limitations. Despite social restrictions and studio time not being possible, no hurdle was too big because they just worked on the tunes digitally, from afar. After all, Paul Ferrie crafts and tailors bespoke beats for various exciting artists internationally, so he’s used to adapting remotely. 

But it’s the fusion of these two that undoubtedly delivers the best work from both. Andy Gibb’s refreshing turn of phrase allows the lyrics to verge on the reflective and introspective, most poignantly on ‘Transitions of me’. The Bubbatrees frontman seamlessly makes bodies of work suited both to his 80s-synth-fuelled band and solo project as Yungpunkstar. 

If you’re yet to hear any of their collaborative material, it’s dark pop meets rap, and they’ve stuck to that blueprint as standard on this EP. It’s a tried-and-tested electronic formula for the inner emo in us all, which the pair has totally nailed. Fans of Ricky Hil and other such SoundCloud rappers will appreciate it and, albeit loosely, it smacks musically of very early-days A$AP ROCKY (the experimental Clams Casino stuff) and even old-school The Weeknd. Give it a listen and it’ll be no surprise that Yungpunkstar cites his favourite artist as the late Lil Peep…

‘Your move’ is the EP’s winner for me. It’s a dead cert that the hypnotic chorus will get lodged in your head. The grungier, more melancholic ‘Limelight’ and the swaggering ‘Mars’ are strong, but the latter’s particularly typical of the previous work they’ve released together. The lo-fi trap sound of ‘And you all wonder why’ bulldozes past the boundaries of the enigmatic and mysterious, oozing those “trippy vibes” alluded to. 

Eager to hear it for yourself? You can stream the ‘Ice Kiss’ EP on Spotify now here.