In
the case of Loka, time is very much of the essence.
Having made their first appearance on Ninja Tune’s
Xen Cuts compilation in 2004, it took four
years for the duo formed of Karl Webb and Mark Kyriacou
to release a first single, Beginningless, and
two more years would pass before they finally delivered
Fire Shepherds. A long gestation indeed, but
well worth the wait.
Hailing from Liverpool, Webb and Kyriacou formed Loka
out of a shared fascination for soundtrack scores, late
sixties improvisation and electronica, and various combinations
of all three elements form the remarkably strong backbone
of Fire Shepherds and dictates its relentless
drive. Loka feed on jazz influences, often applying
a vaguely similar treatment to that of Jaga
Jazzist, yet, the duo’s approach seems in
many ways more direct and punchy. Loka paint their music
with cinematic brushes, creating highly textural and
colourful compositions and imaginative narratives all
the way through. The impressive consistency of sound
and density that runs throughout Fire Shepherds
is echoed by the great maturity and sharp instinct shown
by the pair when it comes to developing melodic themes
and taking them to various new levels over the course
of a single track. The listener is propelled into a
rich sonic universe where brass and string sections
appear to drive the groove as much as Eamon Ellams’s
ubiquitous drums. Carefully orchestrated and assembled,
the seven tracks spanning the forty-three minutes of
this record become a beautiful soundtrack to an imaginary
film and roll on a multitude of emotions. As the boundaries
of each track become blurred, Loka appear to deflect
the attention toward the work as a single piece, each
track representing a variation on a central theme.
The album opens under the sombre drones of a lonely
piano before veering into soulful territory on Safe
Self Tester. The escalating groove is stretched
to accommodate the ebb and flow of the track, but, injected
into Meet Dad, it suddenly becomes totally
incandescent and charts a whole new territory. Here,
Loka swap sixties soul for seventies pre-disco mood
and deliver one of the finest and most engaging moments
on this album. While Airfling and Beginningless
investigate more subtle and introvert structures, the
epic Freda Mae and the two-parter Tabernacle
reveal the full extend of Loka’s conceptual approach.
While the former is a rather slow-burner, the latter
is truly incendiary and definitely concludes this album
on an impressive high.
…
It may have taken Loka years to fine tune this little
gem, but good things come to those who wait and Fire
Shepherds sure is a magnificent piece.
4.7/5 |
