K-Lone - The Falls
K-Lone's transition away from wonky avant-garde club music has been happening for a while now, ditching the clubs for a more organic sound pallet. The UK-based artist made a name for themselves, producing UK garage-flavoured dance music with influences from dubstep techno and UK funky. This is all without mentioning that K-lone also spearheads several extremely influential record labels, including Sweet' n' Tasty, which brings together all things to step while Wych, the fix and more downtempo dub and reggae-influenced music. While all individually influenced the dance music landscape, the most notable being Wisdom Teeth run together with Facta, the jewel in the crown for the duo. Stylistically, the transformation has lent into the antithesis of their previous work, while it's still bass music but with much more of a "music for plants" vibe. We were first treated to this transition with the release of K-Lone's first full-length album Cape Cira Released in 2020 on the Wisdom Teeth label.
K-Lone's latest offering, The Falls (2020), mixes crisp and fresh atmospheres with house elements to create this interesting Plantasia-inspired sound. Stylistically it follows on from Gladwell's (K-lone) Cape Cira album that initially introduces this new aspect of K-Lone's game. Utilising round and bouncy low end with fizzy and crispy highs, this production style lends itself to a summer morning stroll through flora and fauna or swimming through immense reefs with technicolour fish. Gladwell uses Playful rhythms and unique percussive sounds to craft mellow head bobbers. The title track, ‘The Falls’, layers Polyrhythms, Beautiful field recordings, combining more drawn-out chords playing the track bed. It feels like collaborative music, like some drum circle, each person playing individual parts to a greater whole. It sounds like generative music, lending to the idea that it's modular. ‘The Falls’ is almost Daydream like. Quiet, stuttered kick drums Sink into the background of the track, allowing an enchanting percussive melody to shine.
'Pomelo' Is more housey but retains that warmth and easy-going character. Through shakers, wooden-sounding percussion, and those marimba melodies, K-lone emphasise that summer feels through 'Pomelo', giving the track a calypso vibe and allowing the percussion to swing into each other and stripping the trackable jagged edges. The bassline is cool as A breeze Vibrating at the spine with a subtle chill. Whereas 'Sailing Stones' is aligned with hypnotic rhythms designed to challenge and mesmerise the listener. Being the most ambient of all the offerings on The Falls, 'Sailing Stones' weaves the slightest semblance of melody into the percussion. Beautiful and ghostly dubbed-out pianos, however, the background creates an expansive ambience and a little melancholy to the track.
Closing out the EP is a remix of the Cape Cire track 'Honey' by Facta. Facta expertly matches the vibe of The Falls and Cape Cire, all while adding their twist. Recontextualising the track into a more electronica/dubstep track fits remarkably well. Dub delays and reverbs accent the drums while a jazzy Rhodes plays smoothly. This has a similar vibe, like a Röyksopp with its downtempo and chilled vibe or Boards of Canada, as it introduces these vast atmospheres and slight vocal chops.
Tracklist:
The Falls
Pomelo
Sailing Stones
Honey – Facta Version
Label: Wisdom Teeth (2020)
K-Lone - The Fall
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