Strictly Kev is very clever, many of his releases as DJ Food haven’t been his handiwork at all – he even handed the reigns over to Coldcut’s Matt Black and Jonathan More for the early nineties Jazz Breaks series. Talk about taking the credit (joke).

This time, I’m assured that Kev is the man behind this rather weighty new DJ Food EP, featuring 8 tracks at nearly 40 minutes length.

The Shape Of Things That Hum starts very nicely with Sentinel (Shadow Guard), a collaboration between DJ Food and Solid Steel producer DK, where harp sounds pluck over a tremulous bassline, surrounded by a swirl of atmospheric synths and samples until a rocking break enters the fray – it’s DJ Food for thought.

A ‘Lunar Defence’ mix of the track is apparent later on the EP; this time without the heavy breaks and harp sounds - replaced by afro beats and liquidy guitar strains.

Extract From Stolen Moments Too is a piano-led track, overlaid by B-movie vocal samples and brass stabs. A crunchy, mechanical electro-jazz workout – the vocal samples on this track and the following Brother John are, however, rather overcooked. Emblazoning your music with vocal samples is very passé in electronic music terms, not to mention distracting, and such an overdose does not serve the music well here.

Elsewhere, DJ Food opens his tracks with invigorating and persuasive moods, but rarely do they develop into anything more progressive or interesting. The eight-minute instrumental Giant is lost in a world of African percussive rhythms and loud, modulating sound effects – but too samey throughout, and although The Shape Of Things That Hum smoothes itself out with more downtempo moods on the more versatile trio of remixes entitled All Covered In Darkness, they never amount to anything more than mildly listenable breakbeat fare.