Another mad one for you: Truancy Volume 98 comes courtesy of Beneath. The depth and weight of Beneath’s output – initially released on his own white label No Symbols – always has us queuing up for more damage, and he’s found himself in the position of truly being a favourite of critics and punters alike. His productions stand menacingly at the crossroads of dubstep, grime and UK funky, but more recent experiments have proved that even at that deviant intersection, there’s room for manoeuvre. One result of this kind of expansion is that his work really is consistently effective on the floor. It stops you in your tracks mentally an instant before it pulls at your strings and picks up your limbs, with a sound so big you can happily shack out in the long shadows it casts. Another result is that his EPs have showed up on labels as diverse as the legendary Keysound, new spot Niche ‘N’ Bump (which brought us one of our favourite tracks last year, the daintily murderous “Bellz“), and Bill Kouligas’ PAN, which released the mind-warping Vobes EP earlier this year.  You can go grab his latest EP, which sees him moving back to No Symbols, right about now.

As well as being a young producer to watch, Beneath has also caught our ears as a selector: his set at Unsound’s closing party last October in particular was nothing short of magnificent, displaying both a burgeoning dexterity and a real passion for the potency of UK dance music. With that in mind, and after appearing on Truancy Volume 71 around this time last year (delivered by Hodge), we’re nothing short of delighted that he’s somewhat shyly agreed to drop a mix for us. Clocking in at around the eighty minute mark, it’s as deep and expansive as the productions we can’t get enough of and goes in some directions you won’t (but maybe should) be expecting. A word from the man himself on his mixing style: “[I]n the past I’d always been quite narrow, in that I would just play my own tracks mainly and some other UK stuff. But I’m starting to bring my other influences into sets and stuff that generally just fits with the vibe I like – so this mix represents that shift maybe, becoming more of a DJ than just a producer who can DJ. Still got lots of new music from mates in the mix though.” No tracklist this time, but we’re sure you won’t have much trouble identifying some of those mates… Without further ado, a mix we’ve all been salivating over: Truancy Volume 98 by Beneath. Stream and download below. 

Truancy Volume 98: Beneath by TRUANTS