Words by Justin Turford
Lockdown has forced the listener to slow down and explore perhaps more intangible sounds and by intangible I mean that electronic dance music (as just one example) has lost its functional authority and shine due to the inability to share the communal dancing experience. In replacement, a more imperishable feeling has been sought after and for me, soundtrack music, old and new, has become a constant . When time stops as it has seemed to for the last 18 months, a lack of outer life means needing to enrich our inner life with possibilities and alternative existences. Kinkajous’ new music seems to fit that brief. Epic, emotional yet opaque, the first two singles from their forthcoming ‘Being Waves’ LP for Nottingham’s excellent Running Circle label offer a rich potentiality. Their first LP ‘Hidden Lines’ was a full-blooded mix of powerful jazz and electronica but on the new album, a sumptuous orchestral side to the band steps forward. Reminiscent of some of Bowie’s final album ‘Blackstar’ (without his voice obviously), new single ‘Convolution’ (below) is both turbulence and repose, discordant and balanced. If the word ‘cinematic’ is overused, it fits here. Expansive, expressive, impressive for sure.
Drummer and producer Benoît Parmentier and saxophonist/clarinetist Adrien Cau explain “Convolution' [being] about the way we relate to ourselves, to others and to the world around us. It moves forward as a unit, although it is composed of elements that are trying to push away from one another, creating an ever-evolving sense of tension and release.”
PRE-ORDER THE ALBUM / BUY THE SINGLES HERE! https://knkjs.bandcamp.com/