Hong Kong psychedelia to spin you round
Who?
Taking their collective name from a mural on a restaurant wall in their native Hong Kong, Joel Azwar (guitar, vocals), Gabriel Lopez (bass, vocals) and Max Havekost (drums) formed ALBERT. back in 2015. They specialise in dreamy electro-funk that keeps on giving, with hook-laden choruses, slapping guitars and heady, shimmering synths typifying much of their output. The trio met in high school and found that they “naturally formed a musical bond with each other”, although nowadays that bond has to traverse land and sea with Azwar and Lopez living in Canada and Havekost residing in England.
Why Albert.?
Their debut album ‘Mystic Dream Rotation’ was released earlier this year, and it lives up to the promise of 2020’s ‘ALBERT. I’ EP. From the opener ‘Stepdown’, built around a gutsy bassline, to the laid-back, trippy grooves of the title track, listening to ‘Mystic Dream Rotation’ is like leaping into a kaleidoscopic rabbit hole, all bright colours and reflected shapes in the form of intricate but memorable melodies and hazily ruminative lyrics. Meanwhile, the spoken-word interludes and diverse samples magnify its already surreal hue, as if along the way you’ve discovered a luminous potion labelled “DRINK ME” and downed it in one. Rather than shrinking you, however, it simply serves to expand your mind.
Tell Us More…
One of the most distinctive things about ALBERT. is how they successfully blend more overt, modern influences like Tame Impala and ‘Humanz’-era Gorillaz with the likes of funk pioneers Parliament and Cameo, and Japanese city pop artists like Mariya Takeuchi. As a result, their music is danceable and fresh, but still retains a much-coveted elusiveness. Curiouser and curiouser!
‘Mystic Dream Rotation’ is out on Lagoon
