For his fourth New Band this week, guest editor Mike Skinner has chosen Australia's 'queen of dubstep'
Hometown: Perth, Australia.
The lineup: Maaike Kito (vocals, music).
The background: No 4 of guardian.co.uk/music guest editor Mike Skinner's New Band of the Day choices this week is the best yet. Maaike Kito is a 22-year-old dubstep artist/producer from Perth, currently resident in London, who has been issuing records on Skream's label Disfigured Dubz for a couple of years. What If, her 2009 debut release, was a deep, dark slab of heavy hyperdub with a Middle Eastern sample that sounded like Ofra Haza in hell. Her latest offering, LFO, features someone called Reija Lee on Auto-Tuned vocals tweaked to approximate the cry of a Manga heroine, over all manner of squelches, splashes and low-flying bass. With vocal chores assumed by her guest, Kito has been left to focus on the melody and sonics, and she acquits herself superbly, giving the lie to those who believe dubstep is all about rhythm ? it's also notable for its heartbreaking chord sequences, as anyone who has heard Darkstar's Aidy's Girl's a Computer and 2000F & J Kamata's You Don't Know What Love Is will attest.
Kito's got some tunes of her own that merit contention alongside those dubstep classics. There are two tantalising minutes of her track Don't Wanna Lose You, and its combination of pulsating beat, brooding atmosphere and aching melody, on her MySpace, but you can't help wishing it was twice, three times that long. Fever (remix) is poppier, more in the realms of Katy B, and points towards Kito's chart potential. On the Floor is the one, though, the standout, the killer ? if you can be slayed by sheer loveliness, which of course you can. In fact, we took one listen to that lustrous opening shimmer and we downloaded it from iTunes. For some idea of this gorgeous, cosmic dubstep, imagine Cheryl Cole if she joined forces with Kode9, and then her voice was made to sound like a French robot weeping. It doesn't have to be a French robot, it could be Spanish, but probably French makes most sense.
No wonder Mary Anne Hobbs, on her way to Sheffield, was moved to describe Kito's music as a "powerful and yet deep and poetic take on dubstep". So poetic, indeed, that it encourages those who have heard it to reach giddy, lyrical heights themselves. Take south London dubstep MC Sgt Pokes, who recently likened Kito's music to a "magical journey into an enchanted forest made of jam and ice-cream that has grown on the back of an enormous cow deep in the heart of the invisible Burmese mountains". We think he meant this as a compliment.
The buzz: "She is certainly a producer to keep a close eye on" ? thebigupmagazine.com.
The truth: As delicious as fruit preserve on a giant bovine ? there you go, Skream, the sticker for Kito's next single, sorted.
Most likely to: Put Perth on the map, dubstep-wise.
Least likely to: Give it a wide berth.
What to buy: LFO featuring Reija Lee is available now on Disfigured Dubz.
File next to: Katy B, Vaccine, Subeena, Ikonika.
Links: myspace.com/thisiskito.
Friday's new band: Engine-Earz Experiment.
Melissa Howard Samantha Mumba Busy Philipps Thora Birch Jennifer Garner
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