Batu

Batu is a British electronic producer who has released tracks on several well-regarded labels, including his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a>. Informed by dubstep and garage as well as techno and electro, his tracks are sometimes slower and sparser than most other producers on the U.K. bass scene, but filled with tension and unpredictable shifts. He debuted with two singles in 2013 before founding <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a> in 2015. Singles arrived on the label as well as others such as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hessle+Audio%22">Hessle Audio</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mistry%22">Mistry</a>, each gathering acclaim from the underground dance music press. Batu's first EP for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22XL%22">XL</a>, Rebuilt, appeared in 2018, and Opal, his refined debut album, arrived in 2022.

Omar McCutcheon grew up near Oxford, and was studying music production at Bath Spa University when he started releasing music as Batu. The course helped him improve his production skills, and he had learned much between the release of his first single, 2013's "Eraser" (on <a href="spotify:artist:09S8AYFuaa9PQKSNsXxweW">Pinch</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cold+Recordings%22">Cold Recordings</a>), and "Spooked" (on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Livity+Sound%22">Livity Sound</a>) just a few months later. He launched <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a> with 2015's "Cardinal," and two other Batu singles ("Numen" and "Dekalb") appeared that year. The electro-meets-U.K. funky "Bleeper Feed" appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Livity%22">Livity</a> in early 2016, and the Monolith EP (backed with a <a href="spotify:artist:7rAD9Ws0ihREeDmgPS2ZL8">Lee Gamble</a> remix) arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a> later in the year. He also released the first of several collaborative white-label 12"s with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a> labelmate <a href="spotify:artist:1fRMz4kvu4hItUYYZHwZ08">Lurka</a>.

In 2017, Batu's Murmur EP was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a>, and Marius appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hessle+Audio%22">Hessle Audio</a> soon after. By the end of the year, Batu remixed <a href="spotify:artist:2WoVwexZuODvclzULjPQtm">Sampha</a>'s "Plastic 100°C" for a limited 12". His 2018 EP Rebuilt was released by the legendary <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22XL+Recordings%22">XL Recordings</a>. Returning to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Timedance%22">Timedance</a>, he issued False Reeds in 2019. Curved, a third collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:1fRMz4kvu4hItUYYZHwZ08">Lurka</a>, was issued in 2020, and I Own Your Energy surfaced in 2021. Batu's first full-length, Opal, appeared in 2022, veering between weightless experiments and intense, precise beat-driven cuts. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi