It seems you can never have enough fresh Scottish talent, as this EP by Clouds testifies. The duo have been pretty busy over the past few years, releasing on Fake Blood’s Blood Music and Tiga’s Turbo Recordings. They’ve remixed everyone from the likes of Boys Noize and Brodinski to Erol Alkan himself, but when it comes to their original material the Scots have gradually moved away from the fluorescent bounce of electro house to the silvery strains of techno. Last month saw them release “Tannhauser Acid Works Pt. 1” the first in a series of EPs that are set to be warehouse stalwarts. Lead track on the EP, charmingly titled “Those Cracks In Your Face, Do They Hurt?” is tidy but not too tidy. It opens unassumingly, invoking the grim persistence of a Blawan rhythm, all pitched-down vocals doing work over jacking drums. Soon enough, that decidedly brutal terrain is battered into something far less uniform, and before long whatever footing you might have had is lost in a flurry of skittish energy. The propulsive drive of the track’s machinations does an unnervingly good job of throwing you off balance, with the result that all six minutes hold your attention with a manically fierce grip. The track sits comfortably in the ‘industrial’ bracket, each metallic cog working together in precise coordination to create the climax that comes about two-thirds through the track. The vicious energy of this one will undoubtedly have you reaching for the rewind.

Stream: Clouds – Those Cracks In Your Face, Do They Hurt? (Turbo Recordings)

Truss, a.k.a everyone’s new favourite producer MPIA3, is on hand for the remix, and does brilliant work, employing some almost irritatingly shrill bells that sound like some kind of progressive techno remix of a mid-90s dial-up tone. It’s nice to hear a remix that doesn’t shy away from genuinely reworking a track but does it with subtlety – no easy task when you’re managing to blast even more cold anger into an already vicious piece. Bringing up the rear is the slightly calmer “Krafterah”, soothing you into a false sense of security before its acidic bubbles boil over and melt your brainwaves. All in all the “Tannhauser Acid Works Pt.1” EP is a quietly original, and unexpectedly addictive release.

Stream: Clouds – Krafterah (Turbo Recordings)

Clouds’s Tannhauser Acid Works Pt. 1 is out now on Turbo Recordings.