Album Review: Kllo Swim Through “Backwater” To Bring A Strong Debut
Kllo, an electronic pop collaboration between Melbourne cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam, is known for their ephemeral and ethereal soundscapes. Their EP, Well-Worn, was filled with tracks that were the sonic embodiment of bubblegum: a sweetly juiced, chewable treat. Yet, touring and simply growing up have matured their sound since their EP, and forced the duo to look inward for their debut, Backwater.
To be a working, twenty-something in the music industry is an amazing feat, but it does push you to hit levels of maturity ahead of schedule or, at least, unlike others. Kllo have been touring the world, away from home, to spread their dreamy sound, but, in doing so, they realized certain realties that make their debut, Backwater, sound like a wise fantasy. Backwater feels more like a vision quest for virtue than a series of cool, electro-pop jams like their last EP. Do not get me wrong! The quickened baselines of “Too Fast” and “Not Like Them” can certainly leaving you doing your own quick step, but it is their words on being young but feeling “left out” that seem more relevant to listeners. “Downfall”, “Predicament”, and “Last Yearn” feel like abstracts painted by the fears and wonders of youth. For some reason, growing up can feel like a distancing process; as if to elevate your mind and spirit you have to grow away from the both the locations and people you know. Now, this does not mean you lose your connection to them, but it alters, of which the abstract instrumentals pulsing behind them in “By Your Side” and “Virtue” show growing better is a weird process.
Kllo – Downfall
What I love about Kllo’s music is that it is composed to be and feel eccentric, of which their maturer themes amp up their sonic distinction. No song sounds “average” in dreamy synth-waves and mellowed melodies, which allows their fresh takes on the strangeness of self-growth appear poignant. Not often do people reveal that growing into yourself and your own moral values is a strange journey; of which every rise and fall, relationship and breakup, or dream and insecurity will leave you dumbfounded at the virtues that can lie in your heart. Yet, Kllo have developed a stellar review that redefines easy listening along with self-discovery. For More Information On Kilo And To Buy Backwater on October 20 Click Here.
