Karl Magi's Synth Single Review: "Lack of Access" by Liquid Modern
28 March 2022
By: Karl Magi
Liquid Modern’s Lack of Access calls out those in power and advocates for active change over an emotive synth backdrop. The song begins as an easily gliding sonic flow slips into the music and grows while trumpeting, glowing synth rises in warm bursts.
Throbbing drums and bass launch the song and the vocals are rich and warm, climbing up in a poppy line over the driving bass and drums. The vocal melody flickers and shifts between warmth and shadow, arcing upwards expressively while bursting swirls of shiny synth interlock.
The hollow, massive drums throb as the vocals are full with feeling and the melody climbs up above the pulsating drums and bass. The singer reaches out to express deep emotion as she delivers a message of making active change and escaping past limits.
The narrator starts by pointing out how everything is “so twisted” and adds that the powers that be are “playing us like we missed it.” She points out that people don’t have “the power for changing” so the powerful forces “just keep rearranging.”
The end result is the system only working for the people on top and “everyone is so damn through” as the narrator says.
She adds that “we can’t fix it, so why even try” as it has all gone “so far awry.” Our narrator talks about the powerful “take licks on our morality” while leading people to question what’s real.
She goes on to say that she doesn’t believe it any more and “a generation never heard is no more.” In a call to action, she calls to other people out there to tell them that history is being made and adds “be part of this story!”
The storyteller points out that even as the powers that be are questioning the activism, “we keep changing” and all they’re doing is “estranging.”Ultimately our narrator goes on to say that the powerful will be “stuck in history” while those who resist “make our final plea.”
Now the storyteller calls for people to take up action as she says “I can’t do anything for you, this is something you must do.” She adds that people must “save us or save yourself” because it’s something that is hidden inside “as well.”
The narrator says that the people at the top “make life full of banality” and lie to “cover up your vanity” while they “believe in what you don’t any more.” She talks about how they’ve ignored the current generation but concludes that “we’re taking history, be part of the story.”
Liquid Modern – AUTUMNAL BLISS – EP REVIEW & Interview
Pubblicato da: elxarproductions22 Gen 2022 Pubblicato in:Music Reviews Tag: autumnal bliss, EP, liquid modern, Music, Review
AUTUMNAL BLISS
Autumnal Bliss by Liquid Modern is a joyful and fresh experience bound to bring some light in your life no matter the situation you’re living in..
CHILDISH MEMORIES
I am a super big fan of movies by Bud Spencer and Terence HIll.
They are pretty famous in Italy, at least between people of my generation, and I’m positive (well.. I hope) they are decently known all around the world, even if in a smaller scale.
One of the reasons why I love those movies is the sensation of childish simplicity and happiness irradiating from the humor and the stories that instantly throw me back at the days I was a kid, managing to make me smile no matter the situation.
The first time I heard Liquid Modern‘s Autumnal Bliss the sensation was exactly the same: something fresh, almost childish but definitly happy, blowing away the tiredness and the stress from that moment and one thing you can bet is I loved that sensation.
Kojette‘s voice is also one of the simplest and at the same time sweetest I’ve ever heard and it blends perfectly with the style chosen fror the EP and skillfully produced by Lord K.
Autumnal Bliss is an amazing EP to hear when you want simple positive emotions in your life: just hit play, relax, smile. That’s what life should be about.
Q&A WITH LIQUID MODERN
L. – Which inspirations did you have for this work?
Liquid Modern – Musically, Autumnal Bliss was inspired by our love of the fun and poppy qualities of Swedish pop, Yves Montand’s and France Gall’s jazzy and groovy 60s pop tunes and a bit of 70s funk and soul.
Where we live in Texas, it’s hot and miserable 75% of the year. The most glorious feeling is when we get the first blast of cool air that sets the stage for jacket weather. We wanted to convey this feeling through the music as a fresh cool breeze making the fallen leaves dance while the sun twinkles in the branches of the trees.
The 3 songs are purposefully arranged to begin with that first blast of cool air and leaves beginning to float to the ground, move through the leaf strewn paths and shorter days, and into the crisp winter and the new year ahead.
Lyrically, Autumnal Bliss is mostly about letting go of the past and embracing the moment and yourself.
Fall In Spinning is about how we sometimes try to hold on to the past but, eventually, must move on and achieve some new awareness in ourselves.
The words for J’aime L’automne is taken from a Gustave Flaubert novel that were ringing through my head as I thought about the theme of Autumn. He writes (English translation): “I love fall, this sad season is good for memories. When the trees have no more leaves, when the sky still retains in the twilight the reddish hue that gilds the withered grass, it is sweet to watch all that once burned within you dying out“.
The delivery here is a direct homage to Serge Gainsbourg’s deep voice cutting through his various songs with my shaky (but valiant) French delivery.
Walkin’ Feet is literally about getting out and walking to a beat. It is also about continuing to walk forward into whatever the future holds with music as a catalyst to that change. As lovers of music, we constantly have music playing around us and that soundtrack is a great motivator in mundane activities.
L. – What was the hardest ordeal in creating it?
Liquid Modern – The most difficult part for this was getting the music up to snuff since the music was written about 3 years ago. I have learned a lot about production in that time frame so it took some work to UNDO some of the technical mistakes I had made. Having to do this, though, made the final product that much better..
The easiest part was with recording Kojette’s vocals. She writes the lyrics and creates the melodies with no input from Lord K. The first time I hear them is when she is ready to record. From that point, we tighten up phrasings and small melody ideas collaboratively to make it best suit the music and mood we are trying to set.
L. – Does this work have a specific”something” you wanted to convein to the listeners?
Liquid Modern – As we go into our 3rd year of Plague times, we need to be reminded that we should be the masters of our own lives as much as we are able. While circumstances, access, and finances can definitely make living authentically more difficult, we owe it to ourselves to strive to appreciate those simple pleasures that make all the stressful times fade away (if only for a moment).
L. – Any future plans you’d like to share with us?
Liquid Modern – We have a collaboration releasing SOON with some group called eLxAr or something 😉
Currently, we are full-steam-ahead working on our debut 11 song LP. The songs are written and produced and most of the vocals have been recorded. This release will serve as a little bit of a departure point for us musically. While the music is very Liquid Modern (whatever that means), we have incorporated more synthpop and retro sounds to give it an early 80s synthpop and new wave feel. We do feel, with this album, that we have truly locked onto who WE are as musicians. We are tentatively planning on a late-April release for the album with singles in February, March and April.
By Karl Magi
Liquid Modern’s cover of On Our Own is a smooth, flowing and dynamic rendering of Bobby Brown’s Nu Jack Swing song. It kicks off as Lord Kojak’s mellow, reverberating synths move into open space in stuttering lines along with Kojette’s cool, repeating vocal line.
The beat thuds in steadily now, adding a pulse that propels the track forward. The synths are full and jazzy as Kojette’s rich, full vocals cry out over top. This cover reshapes the Nu-Jack Swing style into something more modern but still ear-grabbing.
An angular pulse of full synth moves in glowing lines while the drums add more weight underneath it. The vocals are strongly expressive above the ethereal synths as they drift over the relentless beat. Bright, evolving synth flickers through and a minor key, melodic line glides over broken vocals.
This song has a shimmering flow and a clear, clean sound. Kojette really feels the lyrics while the glittering arpeggio shifts through and the beat keeps guiding the music onward. We fade into vocals alone and then silence.
Karl Magi's Synth Single Review: "On Our Own" by Liquid Modern
October 12, 2021
By Karl Magi
Liquid Modern’s cover of On Our Own is a smooth, flowing and dynamic rendering of Bobby Brown’s Nu Jack Swing song. It kicks off as Lord Kojak’s mellow, reverberating synths move into open space in stuttering lines along with Kojette’s cool, repeating vocal line.
The beat thuds in steadily now, adding a pulse that propels the track forward. The synths are full and jazzy as Kojette’s rich, full vocals cry out over top. This cover reshapes the Nu-Jack Swing style into something more modern but still ear-grabbing.
An angular pulse of full synth moves in glowing lines while the drums add more weight underneath it. The vocals are strongly expressive above the ethereal synths as they drift over the relentless beat. Bright, evolving synth flickers through and a minor key, melodic line glides over broken vocals.
This song has a shimmering flow and a clear, clean sound. Kojette really feels the lyrics while the glittering arpeggio shifts through and the beat keeps guiding the music onward. We fade into vocals alone and then silence.