Crooked Colours have woven more global influences into their subdued, underrated sound on this week's Feature Album.
They may not be one of Australia’s most recognisable acts, but fittingly for their understated sound, they’re a group that’s been quietly chalking up some major achievements since emerging from Perth in 2015.
Their underrated debut album Vera had genuine streaming hits ('Flow' is up to 18 million plays and counting) and took some interesting risks (like linking up with Ivan Ooze on ‘I Hope You Get It’) and sought to solidify a sonic style – a blend of downtempo dance music with melodic sensibilities and live instrumentation and sampling.
Their slow-burning sound doesn’t hit you straight away, but its designed to intoxicate you – a spell that’s very difficult to shake off once its effect does take hold.
That bewitching element runs even deeper on their second album Langata, which posits Crooked Colours to follow in the footsteps of RÜFÜS DU SOL or Mansionair – Australian electronic trios who’ve built a following overseas with their meticulous production and a live show that lives up to that sonic clarity.
Crooked Colours are pulling sizeable turn-outs at Splendour In The Grass, Groovin The Moo, and their current headline tour but it’s still mildly surprising to learn they’re already getting the call-up from international festivals – such as Bonnarroo, Firefly, and Electric Forest – keen to get in early with the next big Australian electronic export.
They’ve already toured Japan, Europe, and New Zealand, but it’s a trip to Africa that’s played arguably the most important role in their developing career and sound.
Langata is named after a region of Nairobi where much of the album’s creative direction took shape. “I went and visited some friends in Kenya and spent the majority of our time in this area of Nairobi called Langata,” vocalist Phil Slabber told triple j.
“We took a couple weeks off from writing the album and decided to soak in the culture and experience something differently. It was a period of time when a lot of the ideas and themes for the album tied in together.”
Phil and his bandmates – multi-instrumentalist Leon De Baughn and drummer Liam Merrett-Park - came away with a clear vision for the album and a mandate to chase exotic sounds and samples to incorporate into their sound. You can hear those ideas in action right from the opening track.
‘I’ll Be There’ features samples of a school choir from Lifou Island - just one of many “incredible” sound bites the band recorded while in New Caledonia to score a tourism campaign for the South Pacific territory.
Elsewhere, ‘Do It Like You’ and the title track weave together vocal snatches, foreign percussion, and unfamiliar instruments into a warm, layered web that rewards close listening on headphones.
Importantly, these multicultural touches aren’t a gimmick or a creative crutch for Langata to lean on. They’re an intriguing texture, bringing Crooked Colours closer to fellow Perth crew Slumberjack, and their way of lacing global influences into their carefully crafted bangers.
While we’re talking references, the plinky synths and languid vocals of tracks like ‘I’ll Be There’, ‘Hold On’, and ‘Mirror Ball’ could be mistaken for RÜFÜS DU SOL. Across the record, you'll also hear shades of The xx’s icy beauty and even Winston Surfshirt’s laidback grooves.
The dusty guitar plucking and sticky beats that characterise ‘Do It Like You’ and ‘Heart String’ are reminiscent of oddballs like Glass Animals or alt-J. Crooked Colours may not have any conceptual songs about pineapples or licking inside out crisp packets. But they’ve got heart.
Phil’s croaky vocals are capable of lulling you into a relaxing trance but they work just as effectively to move you as well.
Closing track ‘Lose Someone’ is a weary treatise about how “everyone deals with grief in a different way and no-one is really geared to lost someone,” the singer explained to triple j. “My brother lost someone dear to him recently. This is essentially about the realisation of not knowing how to help or make things better.”
Another highlight is ‘Never Dance Alone’, an effective call-and-response featuring Ladyhawke that effectively utilises the ‘My Delirium’ singer’s softer side to underscore a beautiful sentiment of forces that refuse to be separated.
‘When I needed you to hold on/I thought I might float away/But you pulled me back over, boy/You’ll never dance alone’.
Not every lyric lands so gracefully; ‘Heart String’ and its refrain of ‘do a little dancing/a little bit of romancing/come a little closer/make a little love’ feels like first-draft cliché, as if the lyrics haven’t had as much thought put into them as the meticulous production has.
They have said the album was written with the intention of being performed live, which they’ll be doing plenty of over the next year or so, but it also has the subdued charms that make it the perfect ‘zone out’ soundtrack.
The extra experience they’ve had in the studio and on the road has given the trio a newfound focus. There isn’t much going on from track-to-track but there’s a clarity of purpose to their structures and hypnotic hooks. Just when you think you’ve got a grasp on what makes a track tick, you’re entranced by it, lost in its sensual pulse.
Over the course of its 37 minutes, this sense of cohesion can start to have that ‘samey’ feeling, with most tracks clocking in at a radio-friendly three or four minutes. It’d be nice to hear the band occasionally spread their wings into longer or more challenging compositions. Something for the future perhaps?
For now, its worth applauding Langata for what it is: an evolutionary step from Vera designed to grow Crooked Colours’ swelling local and international fanbase.
Langata is out now. Crooked Colours are currently touring Australia with Kayex and Nyxen. Dates and details here. Stream the band's Friday mix on triple j Lunch here and below.
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