Disappointment doesn't do it justice

Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip have a new album coming out soon. Their debut (Angles) was brilliant and having had a break since their patchy second (The Logic of Chance), i've got high hopes that the new one (Repent, Replenish, Repeat) will be a cracker. They are keen utilisers of social media to promote their new releases and this is no exception. Their Facebook feed recently mentioned two guest artists who appear on the new album, one known to me, the other not.

The one i'm familiar with is Flux Pavillion, whose well humoured approach to the Dubstep sound makes him one of the most entertaining practictioners of the genre. The second is a rapper called Itch. I'd never heard of him before, so went to his Facebook page and found a link to his latest video. I've followed suggestions by Le Sac vs Pip before and almost always been delighted. This is by far the biggest exception to the rule thus far. A review follows:

Itch featuring Adam Lazzara - Homeless Romantic
It doesn't start well. The video opens with stereotypical views of graffiti, a gang of kids out of focus kicking stuff around and an appallingly poor hook of "This one's for the homeless romantic". Then we switch to Itch, who by the word of his own promotional material is a "feral street kid". He proports to be a baby Pro Green, but without the charisma in a stylised world of rubbish strewn warehouses, whilst crowds of plastic faced promo girls throw things around and smash stuff. Everybody looks like they've been styled by Little Mix. Then Mr Lazzara (of Taking Back Sunday) kicks in and makes the whole thing sound like an angsty college rock track, alternating between banging out part verses and "This one's for the homeless romantic" over and over. It isn't even that good a hook.

Everything about the video and the song feels painfully contrived, manufactured and fake. Itch looks less like a "feral street kid" and more like a spoiled rich kid, going through a dozen different looks in the video, which contribute to the synthetic feel. I put any belief in an artist like this that anything they're rapping about is real because everything is so glossy and cheesy. It is the sort of record i'd expect an X-Factor winner to make.

I really do expect better from the recommendations of people i respect...