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Reviews

Nero, ‘Welcome Reality’ (MTA)

“I don’t know where we’re going,” coos Alana Watson on this English dubstep duo’s single “Guilt”; but that’s just a setup for the air-sucking dropout and explosion of ugly, bass-driven bluster that follows. Watson gives Nero’s robotic skronk a rare injection of humanity, and the U.K. producers are smart enough to build most of their debut full-length around her husky voice, skipping the sampled spasticity of Skrillex in favor of Daft Punk’s melodic big beat (“Doomsday”), ’80s-inspired electro-pop (“Crush”), and stadium-sized mash-ups of squealing guitar and windy synths (“Me & You”).