(Polydor)You can’t accuse the 23-year-old Guernsey producer Mura Masa of false advertising. Raw Youth Collage, his second album, is bitty and a little raw – notably Deal Wiv It, a persuasive 2019 track in which the punkoid exclamations of slowthai set a tone. Another bouncy track, No Hope Generation, manifests as a string of cliches, however; its punk-lite rush fails to engage.
![Mura Masa: Raw Youth Collage review – confused and bitty](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f4515c744c3e657ecdf8e12a40e31c948743c3c5/0_0_4838_2899/master/4838.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctcmV2aWV3LTIucG5n&enable=upscale&s=ee1b9f62c29e63370ae48a649b1bac58)
Like many tracks here, it features the producer born Alex Crossan as vocalist. Mura Masa’s stated aim for the album is how aural nostalgia has become a coping mechanism to ward off the complexities of the present day. As mission statements go, it’s promising.