Toronto’s Spiritual World have been on the radar for a bit now, seven releases deep, and evolving nicely with each one. Locating themselves in a sonic location somewhere between dub space, intimate electronic soul, but with a little bit of outsider pop thrown in for good measure. This latest one from N1_Sound and Bally, under the Y’Know name is a really nice step on in the label’s evolution.

Across the four tracks (plus dub versions of each) on ‘Why Now’, the duo deliver with music that’s both subtle in arrival but with an underlying kick that remains once the music has stopped. Opener ‘So Close’ has a great filtered cowbell line that works in its minimalism with Bally’s vocals and the twinkling effects and synths. Plus there’s the killer guitar conclusion. The pace ups a little with ‘Love Light’ a mini synth pop masterpiece with machine gun drums and plenty of lasers to keep the focus while the dreamy vox plays on top.

‘Treat Me Nice’ ups the dub ante, opening up the gaps between the sounds giving room to expand, minimal and not a little uplifting. ‘Plastic Plant’ shifts again into a lilting reggae groove with the distinctive guitar sound back to complement a lyrical tale of love and loss.

Y’know’s music makes for a perfect fit to versioning and they don’t disappoint with four alternate takes for the listener’s delectation. Paring things back, ‘So Close Dub’ ups the effects and swirls the vocal hooks mid-tune, not overly messing with the original but certainly spinning it in a new direction. ‘Treat Me Nice Dub’ meanwhile adds in woodwind solos that take the original further out there still. Then ‘Plastic Plant Dub’ feels a bit more skanking than the vocal cut giving more room to the guitar again taking the original in a more cloudy late night direction. As someone once said - if you know, you know.

'Why Now' by Y'Know is out now and available on physical and digital formats via the Spiritual World Bandcamp page