VOKA GENTLE – Domestic Bliss – LP – ‘Pale Sky’ Clear Vinyl [FEB 6]

LP – Standard Limited Edition ‘Dirty Window’ Clear Vinyl.

Vintage recording equipment has long been a bit of a fetish, but to sound pioneers Voka Gentle, even the most magical machines are a means to an end. The band, made up of twins Ellie and Imogen Mason, along with Imogens husband, William J Stokes, are a family band in the truest sense. Whilst they started out as a folk trio, their new album Domestic Bliss is an album of throat-grabbing, avant-garde indie rock songs studded with eccentric choices: a synth with its keys jammed, playing a tune of its own making; field recordings Morris dancers, motorbikes captured on binaural headphones.

Domestic Bliss is concerned with power: the abuse of it, being on the cusp of it, and what it really means. The album isteaming with imaginary people in picaresque scenes that reveal the bands rich cultural storehouse. The songs draw on history, literature, everyday life and pop culture references (specifically Jude Laws 1995 Vogue cover), with tracks like Cheddar Man reflecting on climate change and prehistory and Creon I tracing the unease of authority through the lens of Greek mythology.

Recorded in the orchestral studios of City University, the album folds intimacy into scale, from phone-recorded vocals and samples of breath to heavy, tribal electronics in grand acoustic spaces. The result is by far their most refined record yet, where the band treat the recording studio like an instrument.

FOR FANS OF: Animal Collective, Tune-Yards, XTC, Battles, Dirty Projectors, Talking Heads

Tracklist:

LP
Side A
1. Cheddar Man
2. Creon I
3. Torpedo Mike
4. Battle Sequence (Im Atomic)
5. You Deserve It!

Side B
1. Kinema
2. The Creature
3. K Sees The Deal Go Down
4. Jude Law For Vogue (1995)
5. Ultra Aura Glow feat. Hamish Hawk