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Live Review: LISTEN: Little Dragon 'Paris'

21 April 2014 | 7:52 pm | Gavin Butler

If there’s only one thing to be said for LITTLE DRAGON, which there isn’t, it’s that they have a keen knack for consistently producing interesting music.

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Electronic gurus RÖYKSOPP recently referred to it as the ‘Scando-flavour’: that vintage of ethereal electro-synth-pop born from the great white North. It’s got an exotic and enchanting zest to it, dished out best by artists like THE KNIFE, CASHMERE CAT and, of course, Swedish ‘indietronic’ heaven-sends, LITTLE DRAGON.

If there’s only one thing to be said for LITTLE DRAGON—which there isn’t—it’s that they have a keen knack for consistently producing interesting music. That isn't to say that they’re experimental—more that they float in their own bubble of sound, and stir it up just enough to keep the air inside from going stale. Less fanatical listeners will likely know them by the clean indie-pop of ‘Ritual Union’, or the brilliant slow-burner ‘Twice’. Some may have been indirectly acquainted by way of SBTRKT’s ‘Wildfire’, or GORILLAZ’s ‘Empire Ants’. Whatever the association, all of these tracks shine bright for pretty much the same reason: namely, the astral and instantly recognisable voice of frontwoman Yukimi 'mother-of-dragons' Nagano.

There’s a good reason why Nagano—whose “fuming tantrums” in the studio inspired the LITTLE DRAGON moniker—has played cover girl for such production heavyweights as SBTRKT, GORILLAZ, DJ SHADOW, DAVE SITEK, and even BIG BOI. Put simply, she lays claim to some of the slickest pipes in the game. There’s something utterly stylish about the way she paces her words and uses her pitch, an elegance rivalled only by the likes of fellow Swedish songstresses FEVER RAY and LYKKE LI. And the band’s latest release, ‘Paris’, is another rock in the crown.

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The second slice from upcoming album ‘Nabuma Rubberband’, ‘Paris’ is LITTLE DRAGON’s follow-up to their ripping single ‘Klapp Klapp’—and it’s an absolute dreamboat. Opening with PET SHOP BOYS style drum chops and bubbling synths, the track jogs along with a poppy kind of jive that masks its lyrical sadness. “It’s a small town without you… drift alone/I wave goodbye”—this is a song about detachment and the end. And yet, with its lofty melodies and punchy rhythms, it comes off as the bouncy beginning of something rad. If this DRAGON of the North's two fresh singles are any indication, then that something’s probably ‘Nabuma Rubberband’ itself, coiled for release on May 13th. Be ready. Winter’s coming.

Words by Gavin Butler

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