In a world stricken with growing divisions and factionalism, the Welsh producer looks to bring us closer together on her sophomore LP, Inner Song. Through her interconnected worlds of techno and ambient, Owens marks an impressive return, effortlessly tight-roping between such seemingly antithetical postures.
Mastering this merger isn’t anything new for Owens, though. In 2017, the ‘nurse-turned-producer’ was lauded by critics alike on her self-titled debut LP, blending ‘minimal techno, dream pop, Krautrock and ambient drone’ which seemed to come ‘from somewhere in the future’. Yet this world is a different place now to what it was then: Brexit confirmation; heightened awareness of the Black Lives Matter and climate change movements; along with the disaster of Covid-19. Beyond this backdrop, Owens’ self-rehabilitation post-relationship sets an enticing premise for the LP, albeit nothing new in the world of music but, as will be revealed, one which necessitates us to look to a brighter future.
Contributing the latter piece of the puzzle to Lianne La Havas’ cover of Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes’, Owens strangely commences our two antithetical worlds with her cover of ‘Arpeggi’ - bizarrely morphing into a reprise of Stranger Things’ darkwave theme track. If anything, though, these initial sounds serve as an impressive omen underlined by quality production swelling together sumptuous basslines, vibrantly percussive beats, and illustrious synth melodies.
However, it’s the consecutive oscillation between upbeat followed by slower-paced, downbeat tracks which marks Owens with an enticing dexterity at her fingertips. For the latter notion, airy Björk-esque vocals conglomerate against Julianne Barwick/Oneohtrix Point Never’s ambient backdrops in ‘On’, enacting delicate synth-laced drops into an ocean of etherealism. Thereafter in ‘Re-Wild’, endless vocal layers caress each other as they transcend into an unnerving and haunting crescendo a-la Thom Yorke’s Suspiria soundtrack. Not to mention one of the best pieces of work within this LP, ‘Corner of My Sky’, featuring the ex-Velvet Underground member and fellow-Welshman John Cale, sees the pair seamlessly grow and evolve together for 7 and ½ pure minutes of psychedelic mushroom-induced ambiance.
Beyond such contrasting sentiments, Owens intriguingly maps out the extent of her crumbling relationship and subsequent rehabilitation here. Marked by resignation in ‘On’, “no way of moving on”, transcending to ‘Re-Wild’ and ‘L.I.N.E’s path to independence “free yourself / I’d rather be on my own”, Owens notes her best self-made rehabilitation efforts tied to the simultaneous tight-roping act of our musically extreme worlds of techno and ambient. Through the LP’s progression, Owens evolves, too, imbued by nature’s healing powers in ‘Corner of My Sky’ transcending into an upbeat sense of liberty in ‘Night’. Signifying a full 180-turn from romantic turbulence to blissful independence, Owens concludes with an environmentally-toned “wake up” call for us to save the environment which saved her.
Some lagging setbacks, however, slightly taint this record, particularly ‘Flow’ and ‘Wake-Up’s all-too-familiar feel with contemporaries Brian Eno, Daniel Lopatin, and Nicolás Jaar, with a scattered tendency of comatosing from its own ambiance. Taking little else away from this album, Owens undoubtedly marks herself as a producer extraordinaire, impressively flitting between sumptuous ambiance and thudding techno-driven basslines with intriguing ease. But I’ll be keen to see this in its live format - whether the connection of these worlds can truly be reflected in our own segregated world as of late, which I sincerely hope so after 2020’s trials.
7.5/10
Kelly Lee Owens' sophomore LP, Inner Song, is out on 28th August and can be found here.
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