The new, debut mini-album from Brazil-based British electronic music Lokane (known to his friends as Damian Kane) is a journey through various technological textures and atmospheres.
The eponymous opening track is a tense Random Access Memories-era Daft Punk meets Drive Soundtrack soft synthwave voyage that evokes images of dusk drives, technicolour sunsets and shiny metal. At only 1:23 long, Use Technology feels like an intro to the release, or a sample taste of deliciousness to come.
On recent single Spin The Sun, there is some rather prominent, tropical-sounding percussion at play – the Brazilian influence clearly having rubbed off on the Burnage-born musician. Aside from the percussion, there are spacious synths, infectious bass, a catchy lead line, spoken word samples about intergalactic travel and a rather satisfying drop around halfway through. Make no mistake, whilst there are messages to this music, this one was made to make you move.
Another prior single is up next, and this one features his Strange Method label boss Harry Heart. Am I The Drama? is just as infectious as Spin The Sun but in a very different way. The only song here with a traditional vocal (i.e. sung lyrics as opposed to spoken word samples) it has instantly iconic lyrical moments (lines like “Am I the drama, baby? / Is it in my blood or is it in my head?” and “gravity, that’s magic / breathe in, this magic, no sense of panic / let it, let it, sway”) that command your attention and practically force you to sing along.
The pair worked together a few years ago on a track called Tamoios: I Don’t Love You Anymore, and this new tune seems to act as a yang to their first song’s yin. Where Tamoios… was reflective, pensive and subtle, the new tune is full of urgency, attitude and bile. And it bangs. The sparse instrumentation is built around dark and broody bass frequencies, acoustic arpeggios, repetitive synth patterns, clinical electronic percussion and Harry’s characteristically versatile vocals. It’s expertly crafted, and we’d expect nothing less from this combination of musicians.
Back to 5am feels like a bit of a comedown after the last track. A mellow, melting atmosphere seems to surround the listener, at first, and then the beat comes in, and it feels a bit like hair of the dog. But for music. The hazy leftovers of the electrifying banger that preceded it. Again, the percussion is very enjoyable, coming across as clean, crisp and confident, and the flourishes of saxophone add a pleasant additional dimension to the music that we haven’t yet encountered, adding a string to the bow of the already very impressively diverse collection of songs.
Ilheiros is a mid-tempo, uplifting tune that we feel like was made for poolsides and sunshine. With minimal bass synths, subtle padding and a beat that you can’t help but nod your head to, this is effortlessly fun and a real laid-back listen. Ilheiros translates to “Islanders”, and, frankly, you can’t imagine this music being made by anyone else. It’s a guaranteed good time – 3 minutes and 37 seconds of sun-soaked bliss. Wherever the inspiration for it came from, we guarantee you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Net Positive (Future Folklore) opens with a slow-blooming synth that leads into a bit of a mish-mash of sounds. Multiple synth parts vie for space as the beat kicks in and the other instrumentation drops back. Recalling the (rather wonderful) soundtracks to The Golden Age Of Video Games, it brings to mind Sega Mega Drive classics like Sonic The Hedgehog, Golden Axe and Streets Of Rage. The textures here are many and varied, but all are beautifully realised. Essentially a deep house song but with a retro-leaning soul that you can almost feel, this is another one for the dancefloor, albeit a slightly more subdued one.
“Porqué Mentir?” (or “Why Lie?”) is a UK garage-inspired throwback. From the pitched-up vocal sample to the 2-step beat, it screams 2001. It instantly transports you to another time, one of Evisu jeans, Avirex jackets and people shouting “INside”. That being said, it’s also got a distinct Lokane flavour to it. The way he uses the synths to complement the traditional UKG components – a bit like Jamie xx – makes this version of the sound his very own.
Throughout the course of the release, we’ve noticed how Damian injects a dose of humanity in amongst the technology he uses (pun intended – smug face emoji), giving the mechanical music a distinctly personal touch. The songs have an undeniable modernist thread running throughout them, but the music never feels inhuman or too far removed from our reality. It’s not an overstatement to say that technological musicians on the whole should take a cue from his encouragingly humane creative approach.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
