Blessed by an abundance of talent in the local area, In The Middle has set its sights on uncovering some of the finest unsigned and small-label artists in Yorkshire and beyond, in a showcase of the acts we’re looking forward to seeing grow over the next few years.

Linton Nugent is just trying to make music he likes.

With the help of Jess Whyke on vocals, MXI are going big places. The Synth duo from Huddersfield have released only a handful of tracks but are already making a name for themselves.

 ‘Kushiro’, the lead single off their latest release, is beautiful and haunting with simple vocal lines that warp until they’re unrecognisable without losing its tenderness. Like James Blake and FKA Twigs, the song is sweeping and evocative but with a discernible edge.

https://soundcloud.com/m-x-i-1/b-sinners-be-glad

 The B-side ‘Sinners be Glad’ is quite the opposite of ‘Kushiro’. It’s taut and fast paced with a juddering bass and fast-paced drum loop. It wouldn’t be out of place fighting it out with the heavy weights of the Jungle genre, its stabbing off-beat keys really highlighting its reggae roots.

We asked the budding producer about how he formed his sound, revealing his love of everything from reggae to Enter Shikari and how he found his inspiration at our very own Union.

XXYYXX – About You

I saw XXYYXX playing at Leeds Uni a couple years ago, and to see a guy age 17 touring with this sort of music I realised it is possible to do anything, a bit after this is when I started producing ambient electronic music.

Reggae Music is my life and this is my favourite reggae song ever. I love the chilled, relaxed feel of this track. I Take a lot of my influences from reggae, the off-beat guitars, the trippy delays, and of course the bass.

This is the track that started MXI. I fell in love with the haunting vocals and the awesome synth on the chorus, but I also loved the rawness of this track. It’s not quite perfect but there is something particularly beautiful about it.

 

This was my high school anthem. I started playing synth because of this band and got into dub step shortly after. If it was not for Enter Shikari I would never have started producing. I also love their live aspect, they have so much energy on stage and I try to recreate that when playing live.

Find out more about MXI on their Facebook and Soundcloud.

Alex Fowler