Ben Dunkerley is a 19-year-old producer from the UK who’s bringing a definitive, dark, and disruptive sound to bass music. Operating under the moniker Shurk, Dunkerley weaves a shroud of lore around his alter-ego’s production, and illustrates the contents of his imagination with gritty electronic music. The character of Shurk is a reanimated being who explores the darkest depths of the universe, relentlessly driven on a quest for meaning. Donning a mask reminiscent of plague doctors from the medieval period, Shurk’s imagery reflects the dark and brooding nature of the music he produces. His most recent EP, A Darker World, was released on the prominent underground label Tasty this week.

Prefacing the EP is a short poem that encapsulates the lore and general atmosphere that Shurk achieves with his compositions in this collection.

You can keep these dark thoughts away // But they’ve got their eyes on you. // It’s a darker world we live in // Now you see what I’ve been through.

And so I closed my eyes.

There’s an almost cinematically uneasy affect to the introductory moments of “Keeping You Away,” the opening track featuring vocalist Jessica Gabrielle. An atmospheric and arpeggiated swell mulls around in the background of the track as Gabrielle’s vocals resonate through the dark orchestration. Forgoing the standard build and drop pattern of most electronic tracks, Shurk lets the emotional evolution of the vocals act as the catalyst for the beat’s drop right around the one-minute mark. The grimy and distorted synth that pierces through the muddy ambience is perfectly catchy, and accompanies the darkness of the rhythmic backdrop. With each stanza of “Keeping You Away,” we gain a little more nuance, and delicately placed effects that truly build a full-bodied opening track.

The middle third of the EP, “Eyes On You,” is sonically perfect from start to finish. There’s a dreamy, yet pointed and precise aspect to the almost tribal drum-driven intro that precedes the brilliant repeating vocal line. When the beat kicks in, the oscillating liquid bass that drives the composition truly brings us into this Darker World that Shurk wishes to show us. But beyond this, there’s a brilliantly suspenseful interlude that ushers in the second half of the track, that builds with such beautiful intensity, that it’s far too easy to get lost in the airy dissonance. This builds to a fever pitch before coming full circle to the first drop’s reprise.

The final portion, and most climactic track on the EP (in my opinion), is the titular “A Darker World.” Designed almost as a stylistic overture to the sound design and production talent we witnessed in the previous two tracks, Shurk brings the EP to a close with a home-run track for all fans of weird, cosmic, bass music -- with just a touch of jazzy saxophone. Sandwiched between his melodic interludes, warped basslines and perfectly chopped and hammered synths add a perfect level of depth to Shurk’s climactic finale of A Darker World.

From start to finish, A Darker World speaks volumes on Dunkerley’s young talent. Between technicality of production, to the depth of sound design that’s exemplified on this short but dense EP, Shurk exposes us to the world he wishes to weave.