There’s something to be said for taking a decade to refine a sound. For forward-thinking electronic producer/songwriter/at-times-Bjork-bandmember Leila, the 10 years from her spaced, airy and fluttering Like The Weather ’til now have seen her move from sunshine to deep, dark nightmare/dreamscape soundplay.
If I were to say that Blood, Looms and Blooms sounds wonderfully, fantastically and (yes) refreshingly like what the label WARP used to immediately conjure, hopefully I’ll have said all I need to-because it’s an electronic masterpiece. Four and a half stars and a giant luminescent moon would be the rating, were I to ascribe one, to this absolute, stunning winner. In terms of composition, it flows from run-through potlucks melting dubstep and 8bit into something way more ominous (and, thankfully, less boring) than either genre could ever manage on its own to polished head-fucks of otherworldly, demented pop bliss. If I’ve not made my point, Blood, Looms andBlooms is a dark, heavily twisted, dark, dark (dark) record, but one that finds the concept of making “dark” sounds to be an atmosphere and a beginning, rather than both means and end-a statment made concrete perfectly by the album’s gorgeous cover art. Blood, Looms and Blooms is a sonic tribute to the triumphs and pitfalls, the majestic terror and horrible beauty of what happens in the dark.
Leila: Time to Blow (ft Terry Hall)
The first audible quirk on the album, “Time to Blow” is an ode to rage soundtracked by what I’ve grown comfortable over the years dubbing “a Plaid-esque sproing”. If that means nothing to you you’ve never listened to Plaid and that’s that. Most notable here is the fact that the smooth, silken vocal croon, never once veering into the lyrically-implied red, comes from Terry FUCKING Hall of The Specials. Ask your grandfather.Or R Jamz.
Leila: Heaven Sent (ft Luca Santucci)
A B-side to the 12″ pre-album release of “Mettle” as a single, “Heaven Sent”is far too crystalline and uplifting to fit within the Blood, Looms and Blooms context (which is why I’m fine with the album closing on the “Why Should I?” note). Taken on its own merits, though, “Heaven Sent” is…well, exactly what I just said-crystalline and uplifting. Every bit a beauty.
For more of the gorgeous cover art, check Leila’s myspace.
