K-LONE - Cape Cira

  • A stunning transformation from one of the UK's most exciting club producers.
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  • K-LONE normally makes creative, clever club music—some of the best UK dance music around these days. But he made Cape Cira to escape a dreary English winter, imagining sunnier climes through sound. The music on his debut album does this both figuratively and literally. It's awash with birdsong, ocean waves and other field recordings of peaceful places, and it builds its grooves with a tropical sound palette somewhere between the fantastical realm of Midori Takada and the Balearic laze of Mark Barrott. Cape Cira exists in a gorgeous space between real and imaginary. There's a sturdy backbone to these compositions that keeps them, and the listener, grounded. "Yelli" moves at a brisk but meditative house pace, while "Palmas" is a sweaty chugger that might've found its way into an Andrew Weatherall set. Patient, hypnotic and beautifully arranged, "Palmas" is the kind of tune that brings to mind outdoor sunset dance floors by the beach. These songs are transportive in surprisingly specific ways. Your mileage will vary, of course, but the precocious yet slow-paced beat of "Cocoa" reminds me of early sunny mornings before it starts to get hot out, with muttering vocal snippets adding to the groggy feel. "Bluefin" is the afternoon equivalent, when the sun crosses the horizon and the breeze starts to pick up. These are impressionistic feelings conveyed through sound, with arresting detail set against a dreamy mist. The birdsong on the title track is so sharp that it fools me almost every time, but every other element is behind a fog of reverb that renders everything in soft focus. This soft focus is as important as anything else: it creates a wonderfully laid-back feeling to the album that provides escapism however you want to imagine it. It's also a keen synthesis of trends and ideas across decades made to sound simple and concise. No easy feat for any producer. On Cape Cira, K-LONE changes tack effortlessly. It sounds lived-in and content, providing bursts of energy before letting you down gently again, creating a comfortable place for your mind to wander. Like the album's namesake, that place doesn't actually exist, but the way it tickles your imagination makes it all the sweeter.
  • Tracklist
      01. Yelli 02. Cocoa 03. Palmas 04. Honey 05. Cape Cira 06. Bluefin 07. In The Pines 08. Happened
RA