Ivy Lab Founder Sabre Returns To Critical Music With Raw, Distortion-Led Drum & Bass Experiments On ‘Big Cat Ep’

Ivy Lab founder Sabre, the production alias of Gove Kidao, returns to Critical Music with ‘Big Cat EP’; a four-track exploration of under-produced drum & bass, breakbeat science and drum-machine electronica, where untamed distortion meets jazz-informed rhythm and industrial sonics.

Marking his first solo release in almost a decade, ‘Big Cat EP’ reconnects Sabre with the label that helped define his earlier work, while opening a new chapter that draws as much from JK Flesh, Emptyset, Shapednoise and Slikback as it does from the traditions of drum & bass. Across four stripped-back, high-pressure productions, the EP embraces abrasion, repetition and imperfect textures without losing sight of the rhythmic detail that has long characterised Sabre's work.

"Thematically this is undeniably a drum and bass project,” says Sabre “but conceptually it's way more influenced by acts outside the scene. It's primarily an experiment with untamed distortion. I just wanted to contribute a raw, punkish perspective to a scene renowned for its immaculately crafted precision productions. It's an experiment in genre fusion with a limited envelope that I'd love to expand on."

The release also marks a significant personal return following the evolution of Ivy Lab, reconnecting Sabre with the alias that first established his voice within UK bass music.

"This is the first solo music I'll drop in nearly 10 years. I was somewhat apprehensive about reviving the alias and the jolt in continuity from the Ivy Lab aesthetic to this new material. In the end what was needed was some stewardship, and Critical Music offering encouragement was the essential jumpstart this project needed. I just want to make music that's deeply personal, somewhat removed from the zeitgeist, and offers some succession to the music I was last releasing during my previous fellowship with Critical Music back in 2010. I have unfinished business in my experimentation at higher tempos and just want to commit a few concepts to tape whilst those ideas still feel vital and vivid."

Rather than pursuing technical perfection, the EP deliberately leaves rough edges exposed. Drum programming sits at the centre of every track, with distortion becoming an instrument in itself. The atmosphere moves between tension, melancholy and a quiet sense of dystopia. "I'd like people to feel a little unsettled but also unfazed," Sabre explains.

Opening track ‘Brisket’ pays tribute to the rugged breakbeat experiments of Brillo's Timeless Recordings, reducing the arrangement almost entirely to percussion. Almost entirely drum work, even the bassline is created by a pitched down drum pattern. ‘IBM’ slows the pulse further, leaning into exposed breaks and early rave energy.

"The whole EP is operating at a slower BPM but ‘IBM’ is even slower still." says Sabre. “There's something quite ravey and retro about this one, driven by the fact the break is both iconic and completely unconcealed."

On ‘Ugly’, spontaneity takes precedence over refinement. "‘Ugly’ was made in four hours. At one point it was so overdriven it was falling to pieces when the bass hit, but I lost my bottle and reined it all back in.” The title track revisits ideas left unfinished during Sabre's original run with Critical Music. "‘Big Cat’ is very much unfinished business from my last major stint with Critical Music back in 2009 and 2010. It's loopy, droning futurism."

Big Cat EP is set for release on 19th August 2026 on orange 12” vinyl and digital formats via Critical Music.

Get it on Beatport