Actress: “Rule” (Ghettoville, Ninja Tune/Werk 2014)

I’ve admittedly never been much of a true believer in Darren Cunningham’s music as Actress, often finding the hype overshadowing the music itself. But there is something beguiling about his tracks, off-kilter, askew. “Rule” is the closing track on his latest (and last?) Actress album, and it both references hip hop as well as his own signature warped sensibility. It’s a curious closing to the overly long, rather difficult listening of Ghettoville, with its cut up vocals and chunky groove that are more accessible than most of the album (particularly its patience-testing first block of tracks).