A1. [2]This Much A2. [3]Just For Me B1. [4]Turn B2. [5]Flew This, the fifth Fortified Audio release, continuing to chronicle the development of the mutating bass music emanating from the dubstep / house / garage hive. Xxxy (Triple-X Y) hails from Manchester and has put out music on the Fabric, Mindset, Formant, Open Earz, Pollen and Infrasonics labels. The clamour around him correctly continues apace. We’re happy to add to this noise and we’re very proud to be helping him reach your ears. The Every Step Forward EP is a denser, more complex affair than past releases; sounds for headphones and house as much as the dance. Arrangements of twisted swinging, syncopated beats, clipped, rhythm stabbing vocals, chanking house pianos, sweeping and contorted digital strings create some incredibly detailed, lysergic, electronic music, and in the truest of Manc tradition’s, the whole ep is triumphantly uplifting yet remains tinged with a distant sadness. Track one, “This Much”, is a swinging and slightly mournful epic in the Joy Orbison vein with acid melodies and tuff garage breaks. Fellow a-side “Just for Me” draws out some electo-rubberized vocals, handclaps and a speaker tearing saw-tooth bassline. First track on the flip, “Turn” summons and torments the spirit of Tangerine Dream’s arpeggiated synths and weaves them into nasty, shuffling beat, adds a four-note house piano riff and lets rip – a “string’s of life” for the garage heads. Final track “Flew” returns to the acid melodies and distorted vocals once again but with a harder, snarling percussive undercurrent.