VIBRANT SOUNDS OF LITTLE DRAGON
I can’t describe the sound of Little Dragon. I want to categorize them as an Alternative or Pop band, but those are seemingly lazy categorizations. They experiment with the Pop aesthetic, but also extract noises from other musical realms.
Careening between the borders of Electronic music and the playful Pop noise, Little Dragon’s music is hard to define. It could be due to their consistent alternations when it comes to instrumental arrangement and choice.
Swedish Electro-Pop group Little Dragon’s impeccability not only comes from the vibrancy of their sound but the sheer immensity of their discography. They currently hold five albums under their name, all ranging between ten to twelve tracks. That excludes the collaborations and singles they’ve released in meantime.
With their momentum manifests their musical progress. With all the albums and EP’s they’ve made, none of them sound alike. Although the Lover Chanting EP is a mere four tracks, which includes the House edit of one of them, they treat it as another thoughtful piece of work.
The EP starts off the song titled Lover Chanting. It is an indefinite Pop song, but with the garnished appeal of Little Dragon’s signature chords from Hakan Wirenstrand and Yukimi’s youthful vocal inflections. The sound of the song thumps and stomps with a flamboyant appeal.
The next song is titled In My House. This song billows more than the last track. Wirenstrand’s chords shine a little more but sing with more baritone. I can’t really explain how the chords make the song feel, but all I could say is how bitter or chilly it transcendentally feels.
With Yukimi repeatedly coining the line “take it slower” throughout the chorus, there is also some points of poetic poignancy here.
The next song is oddly titled, Timothy. Wirenstrand’s chords whisper with glean, but at the same time bounces up and down. Along with the instrumental variation, Yukimi’s vocals shine in the forefront. In this track, the instrumentals pave the way to allow Yukimi to display her electric spoken wordplay.
Besides the last track serving as the edit for the first track, there isn’t too much to decipher from this EP. The EP could serve as a recognizable signifier for Little Dragon’s consistency.
From there last full-length album, Season High, Little Dragon has been preoccupied with consistent touring, collaborating, and accruing their gradual fame. Being that they spared their free time for creative focus, something like this shows that they continue to rise up to the standard of music’s ongoing growth.
