The first time I heard about Sydney, Australia-based producer, DJ and musician Hugh Burridge was in the mid-2010s when he was recording dubby house records for DIY labels like 100% Silk and Wolf Music Recordings as Hubert Clarke Jr. Around the same time, Burridge launched a small record store turned record label named Outer Time Inner Space (OTIS Records).

Fast-forward close to a decade, and Burridge is recording for fellow Sydneysider Mike Who's Planet Trip Records as Hugh B. For his first EP for the label "Brainwashing", Burridge spent ten days sketching out a playful set of mood portraits drawn from his everyday life with assistance from drummer John-Henry Pajak. As Planet Trip put it in the EP release notes, "His work oozes with an effortless fusion of sophistication and minimalism, it can feel stripped back and modest on first listen, but before long, portals open into Hugh’s world, his music flows with the beauty of his life, friends, family, home and his wonderful creations."

On the opening title track, Burridge plays a glossy synthesiser melody that could come straight out of Mort Garson's "Plantasia" playbook before letting the song unfold into a The Durutti Column/Vini Reilly style slice of pastoral post-punk ambience. From there, he hovers in a similar space throughout 'Song For Buff' and 'Straw Man', with shades of Steve Hiett's "Girls In The Grass" era guitar abstractionism underscored by subtly bubbling drum machine touches.

From there, we make our way "Down on the Road by the Beach" for a slice of sunkissed beach rock titled 'Walk To Forty Foot'. This is followed by the sundown downbeat soul of 'Young Donny' and 'Gone Swimming', a song that effortlessly summarises all the motifs Burridge plays with across "Brainwashing" into a perfect concluding statement. In Planet Trip's words, "Take a stroll with these six songs and ask yourself if this is the sound of a Modern Pop Ensemble channelling the sun-soaked Rock & Roll continuum or could there be something more?

"Brainwashing" is out now through Planet Trip in 12" vinyl and digital versions. Order here.