Gunnar Wendel’s Ominira imprint doesn’t play it straight. From noisy, corroded experiments to dancefloor-ready tracks, the label run by the producer better known as Kassem Mosse reliably keeps its followers guessing. But even its most ardent of fans might not see its latest release coming. Throwing Shade’s debut 12″ is definitely some kind of R&B, and its lurid artwork seems more poised for, say, a Jimmy Edgar record than something on Ominira, given the label’s prior esoteric-artifact aesthetic.

It’s not as though the label has forgone polish outright, however. The smudgy vocal echoes and jagged stabs that open “Mystic Places” are definitely creepy, lending a sinister atmosphere to the plodding, boogie-ish drum patterns and pleading, wordless R&B vocals. “Lights” also cuts between shades (no pun intended), melding whispery vocal rushes with bright, plucky kalimbas and a repeating hi-hat pattern. These ethereal tracks are likely to please fans of the Tri Angle label, but don’t hold as much weight as past efforts on Ominira by Kowton, Juniper, or Wendel himself. They are more echo jams than anything else, focused on sustaining a hazy balance between moods; they’re pleasant, but not groundbreaking.