It’s time for yet another Deep Dark & Dangerous experience this week and you know how it is, everything that lands on this label right now is unmissable and always worth the hype! Following Hypho‘s flawless DDD debut last month, another new name enters the fray for DDD077. Yet another talent to rise from America’s bass capital, Denver, NotLö welcomes you to her newly established cosmic jazz lounge for ‘Speakeasy‘ EP. However this is a jazz lounge with a difference, one built between towering buildings of a post-apocalyptic metropolis. Once we pass the heavy steel doors of the entrance, not only are we faced with the sounds, the samples and the rhythms of an otherworldly house band, we’re also confronted by a fifty-thousand watt sound system from the future, pumping out circuit-busting low end pressure to a marvelled crowd.
Beginning with an eventful trip to the ‘Speakeasy‘, NotLö fleshes out the kind of experience we can expect tonight; the lights are dimmed and the subs mercilessly rattle glasses that hang above the bar. ‘Speakeasy‘ opens as a certified stomper but like any good jazz piece, switching improv-like patterns emerge within the latter phases, still keeping it as dark and groovy as tonight’s bill suggests. Club members take their drinks and gather round the stage for the following ‘Remainder‘, a spacious number with huge wobbling grooves and ominous neon synths that reflect the stage’s devilish red hue, until the pianist develops itchy fingers at it’s peak. Soon enough, tonight’s act moves into ‘After Hours‘, the vibiest track of the set with the appropriate amount of submersible depth and late night ambience for a midnight shindig! The percussion driven ‘Limits‘ demonstrates NotLö‘s brand of future-funky one-forty, as sizzling reeses and ice cold tones illuminate the smoky room. Which brings us to tonight’s encore, the EP’s final track, ‘Screening‘. Deep and stripped back, it’s the perfect tune to end the night. As dawn-fresh sun glares between crumbling high-rises, we step back outside and into the cold alien occupied streets of Denver, 2031.
Like all good clubs, NotLö‘s ‘Speakeasy‘ EP effectively distracts oneself from the chaos of the outside world, although perfectly captures the endless unrest and mood of many, whether it’s 2021 or 3021.
‘Speakeasy’ EP is out 16/04/2021 and available to download from the Deep Dark & Dangerous Bandcamp.
Check out NotLö on Soundcloud and Twitter.
Check out Deep Dark & Dangerous on Soundcloud and Twitter.