San Fransisco-based dubstep protagonist Kush Arora offers his long overdue follow-up release to Underwater Jihad (2004). The artist is a staple on the dub scene, touring with the likes of fellow popular acts, Thievery Coporation, Flying Lotus, and Bassnectar.

Boiling Over covers the gamut of the dub spectrum, while exploring tribal grime, deep bass and adopting various Eastern traits.

The album is fairly short; weighting in at 37 minutes with just seven tracks you would think more could be offered following a 5-year semester. Devotees of the genre are, however, unlikely to be disappointed with the opening title track, weighing in with thudding 2 step beats and the by-now formulaic use of deep, reverberating bass lines.

The programming is pretty exquisite, with lashings of intricate beats, melodies and rhythms underpinning the production to give a full, rich sound. The Staircase feat. Lucas Patzek is slower and more refined, allowing you the chance to scrutinise Arora’s use of complementary string sounds and some rather exotic percussion.

While tracks such as Alabastaer Dub and Dealbreaker give clubbers what they want by strictly pandering to the dance floor, it’s good to hear a variety of more cerebral tracks. The richly atmospheric Constructing the Absence w/ Sub Swara has a world feel, due to its prominent use of pan pipes and some sprinkled Eastern vocal utterances - the ambience is so luxuriantly constructed that it almost ventures into pure soundtrack.

Meanwhile, the ragga-influenced We’re Upstairs adds another component to Arora’s sound, while the closing SF Shuffle Riddim is perhaps the most poppy and overtly commercial track on offer – again, produced with succulent attention to detail.

Dubstep often gets a hard time for its oft-used template sound, so it’s good to see an artist trying to broaden its horizons, and, in this case, successfully so.