RAP find hazy, mystic ground somewhere between John T. Gast-like steppers and Alexander Tucker’s psychedelic folk-pop in their hugely enigmatic 2nd LP, out via the excellent Jolly Discs.

Enacting a musical ideal of being simultaneously within yet outside of the music, ‘Export’ sees RAP’s Guy Gormley (Enchante, Never) and Thomas Bush hover above musical timelines like puppeteers pulling the strings with an elegantly detached sense of control. In a smart way it’s a sound symptomatic of its times, economically efficient with its rhythms and melodies, and in the way they parse the most effective parts from techno, pop, and dub of the past generation while still sounding like the music was made circa 2019.

On side A the tracks flow in unbroken sequence at the same tempo from the dub technoid ‘Baptism’ thru pastoral AFXian techno in ‘Ruin’ to the enlightened steppers meditation of ‘Young Persuasion’ making sparing but crucial use of Gormley’s plaintive vocal. The other side is then beautifully counterbalanced with the timeless, loner piano meditation ’Twisted Fix, before avian cacophony gives way to a sort of pulsing techno chamber music in ‘Mad Friday’, and a perfect transition into their deft pounder ‘No Mixer’ and an anthem in waiting with the marriage of fey, ear-worming vox and filtered thizz in ’NSEW Ravers.’