Hijinx is the artist formerly known as Mr.K, who decided to switch things up in 2021 after feeling pigeon-holed in his sound. Having already released on labels like N-Type’s Wheel & Deal and Zha’s White Peach, he launched the new moniker with the menacing anthem ‘Venom’ via the J Sparrow-helmed Navy Cut. He’s since started his own outlet, Fortune, a place where “I can have complete control and can do whatever I want: moods, tempos, genres and aesthetics”, resulting in the ultra-woozy ‘Illusions’, the urgent, acidic ‘Out Of Luck’ and growling, downtempo scorcher ‘Slum’. He also found a home on Alix Perez’s vital 1985 Music, first with a brace of compilation tracks — the sub-pummelling ‘Shush’ and sludgy dub track ‘Relapse’ — and now the ‘Macabre’ EP, which dropped in January. Mainly focused around 140, there’s plenty of sonic variation, from the sparse title track, influenced by Hijinx’s love for rock and metal — “big chuggy b-lines forever” — to the spidery ‘Swarm’ and no-holds-barred ‘Attention’ with Cesco. But his desire to apply the dubstep palette to slower tempos is still present on ‘Danger’, a lumbering hulk of quaking perc and gruesome low-end. “I want to hear dubstep that’s fresh and pushes the sound forwards and doesn’t keep it stagnant,” he says. “So with that in mind, I’m trying to challenge myself to do something different and keep it exciting and interesting.” We’d say that’s mission complete. - Ben Hindle Djmag