Batu

Batu functions as a British electronic producer whose material has surfaced on multiple respected labels, among them his own Timedance. Drawing upon dubstep and garage as well as techno and electro, his productions frequently move at reduced speeds and with greater sparsity than most peers in the U.K. bass community, while maintaining tension and sudden directional changes. Two singles marked his entry in 2013, after which he established Timedance in 2015. Additional singles followed on that imprint and on others including Hessle Audio and Mistry, each receiving attention from underground dance music publications. Rebuilt, his first EP for XL, appeared in 2018, and Opal, his polished debut album, arrived in 2022.

Omar McCutcheon, raised near Oxford, had begun studying music production at Bath Spa University when he first issued tracks under the Batu name. The curriculum strengthened his technical command, and noticeable development occurred between the release of his opening single, 2013's "Eraser" on Pinch's Cold Recordings, and "Spooked" on Livity Sound only months later. Timedance launched with 2015's "Cardinal," and that year also brought two further Batu singles, "Numen" and "Dekalb." The electro-meets-U.K. funky "Bleeper Feed" reached Livity in early 2016, while the Monolith EP, which included a Lee Gamble remix, appeared on Timedance later the same year. He additionally began a series of collaborative white-label 12"s with Timedance labelmate Lurka.

Timedance issued Batu's Murmur EP in 2017, followed soon after by Marius on Hessle Audio. Before the year ended, Batu supplied a remix of Sampha's "Plastic 100°C" for a limited 12". Rebuilt, his 2018 EP, came out via the renowned XL Recordings. Returning to Timedance, he released False Reeds in 2019. Curved, a third joint release with Lurka, appeared in 2020, and I Own Your Energy followed in 2021. Batu's first full-length, Opal, surfaced in 2022 and moved between weightless experiments and intense, precise beat-driven cuts.