The 13th Floor

Since their 2014 BBE debut ‘Less We Can’, Duct Tape have been hard at work on brand new material in their Berlin studio. Armed with an array of cheap synths, battered mics and a bass guitar, the musical pairing of Wynton Kelly Stevenson and Batsauce have once again emerged with unique collection of intergalactic, psychedelic soul.

Delightfully lo-fi and eccentric in its aesthetic, ‘The 13th Floor’ is both a tribute to 60s psych rock band ‘The 13th Floor Elevators’ and inspired by the odd superstition surrounding the missing 13th floor, even in modern buildings. Taking in hip hop, funk and rock influences, Batsauce’s beats are unrefined and honest, while Wynton’s vocals are catchy yet other-worldy, his delivery singular; his lyrics idiosyncratic and at times inscrutable. Wynton’s late father Rudy Stevenson, whose songs were recorded by Nina Simone and George Benson among others, also contributes three songs to the album.

Toe-tapping, deep-thinking, retro-futuristic, blunted and uncompromisingly soulful, ‘The 13th Floor’ holds up a looking glass and allows us to share in a shared musical hallucination quite unlike any other.