Sub Pop have signed their first hip hop act in Shabazz Palaces. And we have to ask: is this what they call beginner’s luck?

Fronted, backed and delivered by Palaceer Lazaro, also known as Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler (from the lovable Digable Planets), it may well be one of the records of the year. Avant-garde, leftfield, experimental – stop trying to catch the Butterfly, it is better off flying free. Classed as a collective (produced by Knife Knights with Eric Blood on mixing) we don’t have too many names, just solid beats, loops, low-end bass and the main-man’s thought process on hip hop, inspiration and the fakes among us.

From the unflinching opener, ‘Free Press and Curl’, which opens like a tripped up pulse, the raps flow intelligently and with their own rhythm. There is a constant bass-level vibe running through the record, yet the snappy beats and variant backing addresses the balance. ‘Are you… Can you… Were you? (Felt)’ – where Lazaro goes on a feeling – has keys, strings and opens up a breezy backing midway through (like a Digable Planets dirge).

Most tracks here have a sub-song tacked on the end, a new pattern, a new turn in the road – this creates a looser, wayward vibe. ‘The King’s New Clothes Were Made by His Own Hands’ has a drone-like intro, a clicking, a rumbling behind the scenes – it then turns to an African style of chant and rhythmic movement. Lyrically Lazaro continually impresses. He bites, reflects and gets philosophical throughout – check ‘Youlogy’: “Lives are getting truer and the truth is getting bright. Things are getting blacker, but black is looking white.”

This isn’t an album of singles, it’s a record of true thought and independent thinking – and Bowlegs is all for that.