Review: Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song

All the best people intern at XL Recordings. I mean, how could you not pick up some tips from the home of The Prodigy, Arca, FKA Twigs, Vampire Weekend and of course, Radiohead?

After growing up in a small village in Wales, Kelly Lee Owens departed for Manchester where she worked as a nurse in a cancer ward, where her patients were the ones who urged her to pursue music more fervently. She moved to London in 2009 and took up the aforementioned intern role.

11 years later and luckily for all of us, second album Inner Song arrives.

Pulsating in your headphones from the outset, maybe it isn't such a shock then that Kelly Lee Owens takes the slightly unorthodox route of opening her album with Arpeggi, a devoted re-work of the Radiohead track from their 2007 album In Rainbows. It works wonderfully and it is clear that fangirl Owens has been dying to do this for some time, and with great effect. The droning and pulsing baseline carries the track along for just over 3 minutes until the beats emerge only to drift away almost as soon as they've arrived.

Owens' voice is the next thing we hear in harmony with itself as the second track, On, arrives. She has a very smooth and nymph-like texture to her voice, which picks up some lovely choral combinations across the track. The voices and sense of loss felt in the first half of the track departs for a harder techno edge in the second half, which very literally epitomizes the lyrics:

So

This is how it must go

And now I am moving on

Now I am moving on

Melt! is a direct comment on climate change from within the bass-strewn, punchy rhythmed and meaty beats that will fill actual dance-floors (and virtual ones for now) for many years to come, with the vocals being reduced to single word whispers in the background. It takes no prisoners.

Re-wild adopts a more dreamy, ethereal scale of synth driven pop. The steady pacing and Owens breathing "see the freedom in me, allow the freedom in you" allows you to just close your eyes and relax into it.

It wasn't until I read a few reviews of this album that I discovered Jeanette was written in homage to Owens' "legend" grandmother. A totally instrumental piece, it has a great build through the layers of synth and a throbbing baseline. What I really like about it though is the simplicity that sits in front of the technical complexity involved in crafting this track: it's just beautiful and every beat, note and movement matters. You can tell it was a labour of love, and very fitting as a tribute too.

L.I.N.E. (Love Is Not Enough) brings us right back to dream pop territory with a wonderful lyrical centerpiece to the album. You can hear the pain in Owens' words as she sings:

Love is not enough to stay

I'd rather be on my own

Gonna trust my speed and show him

Love is not enough alone

Collaborations don't always work on albums, but when you have Welshman and founding member of The Velvet Underground's John Cale in your corner, you have a reasonable chance. Cale speaks and croons in English and Welsh over Corner Of My Sky, with Owen's layering in bass, beats and strings providing the extra texture. It moves at a statesmanlike pace for nearly seven and a half minutes, and is reminiscent of Underworld's more sedate tracks, but it grabs and holds you for the whole time. Cale chanting "the rain, the rain, the rain, thank god the rain" over and over is terribly hypnotic.

Next comes my absolute favorite track: Night. For me this is where Kelly Lee Owens nails it 100%. NME calls the track the "sonic equivalent of a calming hug" and I am not going to try and beat that. It's just a lovely trance track, and Owens' vocals, combined with the beats, building intensity of the track - she's definitely taking cues from one Mr Jon Hopkins there - and the club-friendly put-on-the-strobes vibe makes it stand out.

Flow is another instrumental track which carries a beat similar to Orbital's Sad But True from 1994's Snivilisation. It moves along with a slightly darker edge to it, showcasing Owens' ability to take different paths within the same thematic idea without the track seeming like an outlier or misplaced.

The album closes with Wake-Up, where again we're treated to Owens' vocal talents and a dreamy synth and beats combination. The notes swirl and climb wonderfully in this one, creating a euphoric denouement to her work as her voice echoes to nothingness.

This is simply an outstanding piece of work, and given it comes from a place of difficulty, loss, challenge and introspection that has all been beautifully channelled for the listener it makes it even more fitting that it all comes together so brilliantly.

Take a bow, Kelly.

My album of the year so far, and in a year that's been roundly quite shit for nearly everyone, that says a lot. If I were you, I'd go listen to it. Now.

10/10

Badger x