Darren Cunningham aka Actress is about to release his fourth album ‘Ghettoville’ on January 27 via his own label Werkdiscs and Ninja Tune, and a press release (although being typically cryptic) has hinted that it’ll probably be his last under this pseudonym. But as an aptly-titled sequel to the London producer’s debut record ‘Hazyville’ back in 2008, it follows the two radically rugged, sophisticated abstractions of ‘Splazsh’ and ‘R.I.P.’ in 2010 and 2012 respectively, and is a long-play testament to why he’s become one of the most fascinating electronic artists of the 21st century. He released a 12″ ‘Grey Over Blue / Wee Bey‘ at the end of 2013 in the lead up to the album, and the moody sounds on that single continue throughout the whole 16 tunes on here.

Like ‘Hazyville’ the emphasis is on heavy troddin’ grooves – Boomkat said the record is a backyard distillation of grime, rare groove, house and hip hop – but Actress has now upped the overdriven noise factor to noxious, memory-bleaching degrees, making everything eerie as fuck and disorienting; perhaps like a dazed 5am stroll around familiar-yet-somehow alien ends of a concrete jungle shrouded in pre-dawn fog. ‘Rap’, Cunningham’s “strangely haunting and utterly transfixing” new track, hit NPR’s website today as part of its latest ‘All Songs Considered’ feature. It’s the only tune so far to hit the airwaves, so check it out below before the album’s released next week. Ultimately, this album is one for the heads, the headphones and lowlit habitats: you can pre-order it in various formats here.

Tracklist:
01. Forgiven
02. Street Corp
03. Corner
04. Rims
05. Contagious
06. Birdcage
07. Our
08. Time
09. Towers
10. Gaze
11. Skyline
12. Image
13. Don’t
14. Rap
15. Frontline
16. Rule