Backwater by Kllo

2017 | Dance | Pop

Kllo - an electronic pop collaboration between Melbourne cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam - waded in figurative backwater for much of 2016 amid an extensive world tour. These were exciting times; the duo's Well Worn EP furthered the promise of 2014 EP Cusp, receiving millions of streams and landing Kllo on festival stages as well as Artists-to-Watch lists. Nonetheless, the stretch kept them far from home, isolated and vulnerable, treading through perpetual uncharted territory while yearning for the comforts of the familiar. As a result, Kllo's full-length debut depicts inner adjustment to outer change. Songs were written partially on the road and developed back at Lam's bungalow, a haven that harbours creative spontaneity and catharsis. "It's the first time we hadn't felt like kids anymore," says Kaul. "We were really able to dive in deeper and bring out a lot more of us into the music." Kllo first emerged with a sound beyond their years; fully formed, fusing elements of R&B, UK garage, and 2-step. Well-versed students of artists like James Blake, Lauryn Hill, and The xx, the duo extend an amalgamation of established pop elements with modern sensibilities and wide-eyed sincerity. Backwater arrives as a refined, coming-of-age account. The LP format finds Kllo with more room to breathe and sync their rhythms with emotions. Kaul's smoky voice emanates with assurance and leisure. Lam's production invents brooding, steely undercurrents hemmed with charming crescendos. They use these warm-cool dynamics to convey strain; see the bubbling arpeggiated synth lines of the closure-seeking 'Last Yearn' or the solace afforded by the tender piano ballad, 'Nylon' to experience the bewitching confluences. Kllo have officially come out the other end of the stilted estuary with twelve compositions cultivated to feel timeless and crafted, and equally current. The duo's second release on Different Recordings - and their most realized work to date - Backwater celebrates the ephemeral and the enduring changes in emotion, the downfalls and the dissolves. It's an album that parts course with its flow, and flourishes in a lowland.

Kllo (Artist/Musician)