The first thing that struck me about Meanwhile’s “Icarus,” from the British pop auteur’s The Element Yes EP, was the beat. It’s an unbelievable dance-pop track, a hyperkinetic future-funk rhythm built on playfully spiky guitar figures. It sounds like something Berlin-era Bowie might’ve come up with if he’d still been snorting massive amounts of cocaine, perhaps with some neon space dust mixed in. Eventually, though, I became just as impressed with Meanwhile’s vocal. There’s certainly some Bowie in that too, but it’s more like TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe doing his best Prince impression. The dude can really wail. All in all it’s fucking genius stuff that deserves to be heard, so hear it below.

The Element Yes is out 12/1 via Fiction. Pre-order it here. Meanwhile headlines Sebright Arms in London on 10/27 then heads out on tour with La Roux:

11/05 Glasgow, UK @ O2 ABC
11/07 Leeds, UK @ Met
11/08 Birmingham, UK @ The Institute
11/10 Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
11/12 London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
11/14 Norwich, UK @ UEA
11/15 Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
11/16 Manchester, UK @ The Ritz
11/28 Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
11/29 Paris, FR @ Bataclan
12/01 Lille, FR @ Stereolux
12/03 Brussels, BE @ Botanique
12/04 Berlin, DE @ Berghain
12/05 Cologne, DE @ Stollwerck
12/07 Frankfurt, DE @ Gibson
12/09 Hamburg, DE @ Mojo Club
12/10 Amsterdam, NE @ Paradiso