A few days ahead of its official release, I have been streaming Kan Wakan’ new album ‘Moving On’ on Amazon, and I must say it is very haunting. I had enjoyed so much their shows at the Echoplex that, when I saw I could stream the album, I did it several times this weekend and even pre-ordered it (it is just $7.99). The whole thing is such a lavish and lush orchestral affair, with poignant strings and Kristianne Bautista’s amazing and soulful voice.
Moving On opens with ‘Forever Found’ that had already been on repeat on my soundcloud playlist since I discovered Kan Wakan. It’s probably one of the most epic and emotional songs of the album, with spacious, layered and adventurous arrangements. I simply never got tired of this one as it moves me every time with its sumptuous sadness and undeniable cinematic presence. I actually already knew a few songs beside this one (the titled track ‘Moving On’, as well as Midnight Moon Pt. I and Pt. II’) and these tracks were already brushing the large palette of this band’s unique style, going from dark mysterious places to some dance-y-Radiohead-esque soundscapes. I would say that the songs I hadn’t listened to yet, were a bit less remarkable at the first listening — let’s just say they didn’t transport me immediately into the same of ecstatic state — but they have already built on me with these omnipresent and melancholic strings and a strong and deep presence.
‘Like I need You’ (or ‘Why Don’t You Save Me?’ to a lesser extend) could sound like an Adele-song and seem to be totally radio-ready, while ‘Space Owl (Cut the Rope)’ has an interesting vibe, a Sade-meets-Radiohead mixed with the orchestral genius of Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ … and this multi-influence idea didn’t leave me for the rest of the record, there’s a vision through this music, a languid and powerful sadness but also an immense and striking talent building a complex and dark world of psychedelic soul, dramatic electronica and pop noir reinvented through a kaleidoscopic vision of Ennio Morricone’s compositions. This is particularly true for the two superb closing tracks ‘Midnight Moon Pt. I’ and ‘Midnight Moon Pt. II’ (which are actually built to make one song), and the subtle, adventurous feeling mixed with a sentiment of an inescapable fate running through your skin when you listen to it,… if you had only one song to listen to you would have to try this one, and make your own western head-movie at the same time. It is just staggering and painful in a very good way.
The band is essentially a trio consisting of composer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, singer Kristianne Bautista and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy, but on stage they can be six or seven and have a real orchestral ensemble approach of their compositions. As a matter of fact, the album features the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Linev’s uncle, Bulgarian Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra music director/conductor Stefan Linev, providing a full and spacey orchestral sound throughout the whole adventure. Furthermore, the album was co-produced and mixed by Grammy award winners Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck, Gnarls Barkley) and Tom Elmhirst (Adele, Florence and the Machine, The Black Keys, Amy Winehouse, Arcade Fire), which can explain a lot.
‘Many roots of ideas are inspired by moving picture and fiction. A lot of arrangement ideas usually start with a quick sentiment, and develop viscerally undocumented over some time before I feel comfortable enough writing them down,’ has declared Linev in a press release. ‘We wanted to put no limits on what we were setting out to do. We tried to put as much of ourselves on the record as possible so that we can look back on it as a real and honest statement of who we were in that moment, both musically and spiritually.’
For a first album, it is totally remarkable and unique, Kan Wakan have built a mysterious and magnificent sound and their musical approach matches the art cover of their album, it is a symphonic super-production, both colossal and Sisyphean.
By the time this post will be up, the album will probably be released (June 3rd via Verve).
