Born and raised in Hexham, but now based in Manchester, The Spy From Balzan is the latest musical project of producer Khabs who has been making waves in the grime/dubstep/140 beats scene. His new album, however, sees him opening up a real grab-bag of influences. ‘Cheese Dreams’ is quite simply a brilliant alt-pop song, as is the effortlessly breezy ‘Imagine That’. ‘Northern Rail’ is underpinned by an indie-pop drive, while ‘This Way Up’ is replete with syncopated beats galore. Enthralling stuff from start to finish. DP

Out now, self release