Review Summary: I should be somewhere, praying that I'm dreaming
At risk of resulting in the same chronic imagery which has been shoved off the internet’s underworld ever since Toby Driver or whoever came up with those tasty-looking paragraphs in the official Kayo Dot website, perhaps indulging in baiting a hype-seller for lucrative purposes –not like it is a reprehensible attitude: after all, a musician’s got to eat, pay his bills, afford himself tours and all that jazz–, Coffins on Io does feel like a driving journey. Only that its road –dissimilar from the predefined circuits we seeds of our time drive through in grey, indistinct cycles– is post-apocalyptic and blood-coloured, with a gust of morbid yellow permeating a sky fissured with glowing cracks from which the wounds, open and mundane, spring mercilessly.
Comparisons are sometimes not vain. A decade disseminated backwards already, a busy decade for Toby and his overly ambitious musical project Kayo Dot, lapse in between which some of the most captivating, forward-sounding albums of the musical scene have been recorded weaving in their transition from Massachusetts to New York, a musical exploration in coincidence with their coming-of-age where Toby and the rest of Kayo Dot members had undergone experiences of a lifetime purposefully reflected in their music: a hardly self-indulgent journey that hasn’t ceased to whirl up to this date. In retrospect, the diversity of soundscapes they have touched throughout the years is nothing short of jaw-dropping, just as the versatility of their excellent musicianship keeps gathering admiration from their fanbase. In Coffins on Io, Toby Driver introduces atmospheric compositions braided by dreamy passages whose witnessing inevitably drops a reminder of his earlier project, maudlin of the Well. Whereas Kayo Dot’s early oeuvre gravitates around a kind of subtle folk ambiance of dry and hazy and surreal evocations, Coffins on Io resembles a chemical bomb that bursts in shreds of melancholy: wicked, dense and moody.
While judging by its ridiculous 70s-reminiscent cover might aim to Coffins on Io being pastiche album, the compositions revealed in here are nonetheless very serious; under an attentive listen, their progression feels cohesive and cinematic in an ulterior gaze. The journey takes off with The Mortality of Doves, a 12-minute-song that is arguably destined to puzzle Kayo Dot connaisseurs who listen to it for the first time: what immediately grabs the attention is Driver’s unprecedented vocal performance grounded on falsettos, hopping from one register to another in emulation of either synth-pop vocalists from the 80s or neo-goth/darkwave ensembles, all of this enhanced by a lush production. An electronic cadence underlies an instrumental fusion that grows in emotion and loudness with each vocal section, turning into a crescendo that flows into a grandiose post-rock finale. Instrumentally detailed, moving, with subtle sonic additions intertwined: it is doubtlessly one of the best songs on Coffins on Io. However, there is a constant repeating itself through the integral length (more or less) of the LP which might bug some listeners; it could be verbalized as sections that loop themselves for far too long. In Coffins on Io each piece is more structurally defined and maybe accessible than any other previous Kayo Dot composition in existence. Repetition is not an important issue in most parts given that there is a great deal of complexity and progressive wizardry to be enjoyed beneath the main rhythmic and melodic patterns, and in fact it makes sense within the album’s context to establish its unique driven-journey vibe, but it can be a drag a few times –I am thinking of the closure for both Off-Ramp Cycle and Library Subterranean, instrumental grooves around which not much is really happening, that can go on for three, four, five minutes without significant variations; they deliver something vicious, masturbatory, a sense of perdition that fits in perfectly with Coffins on Io’s madness… sadly enough, they are unengaging, failing to compel the listener to go through them again and again. It must be required from masturbation to be addictive: otherwise, it loses its gravid power.
Off-Ramp Cycle (Pattern 22) hits subsequently with a chill melody, softly guided by drums and a playful bassline. It is hard to define what this specific piece evoques. It is without question one of the most prog-influenced songs. Instrumental deliveries are literally insane. Driver’s vocals are consistently good, leaving melodies that are memorable and incredibly catchy; at times it seems that he is giving up to excess, faking accents, twisting his pitch to the verge of ridiculous, but otherwise his voice leads up to an impressive display of skill. The lyrics –brought to life once again by obscure poet Jason Byron; once again, in the shape of a narrative– in Coffins on Io are powerful and voluptuous, expressed with a vast imagery and metaphor, as usual. All of a sudden, Off-Ramp Cycle devolves into a groovy highway of doom, aroused by synths, marching without defect to an inexorable catastrophy, altered, in a cloudless landscape of unbearably crude implications. In sonic terms, this passage struck me as deliberately theatrical, reminding me of an old 8-bit videogame soundtrack. It drifts away and leaves space for the overlaying of an acute realization: Longtime Disturbance in the Miracle Mile. A ballad of unconcealed emotion, sincerest of paroles, based on a previously released song Driver put on YouTube called The Second Sight. It is subtle, elegant, synth-driven –a remarkable moment, setting another unprecedented hit in Kayo Dot’s musical history as far as electronic inclusion goes. Library Subterranean (alternatively titled: How To Destroy Your Own Song With A Terrible Idea And An Adequate Dose Of Artistic Self-Indulgence) is the only song I personally have a problem with. It makes it even more painful to acknowledge the fact that it starts off so well, with an ethereal bass crystallizing into an atmosphere of pure beauty… and somewhere along the way Toby decides it is time to sink what he had raised in a mindless 6-minute-long groove that doesn’t offer any substance far from what we already knew: that Kayo Dot are technically virtuous. But if such were the scope from which music was analyzed, bands in the likes of Meshuggah and Dragonforce would be the best in the world.
The Assassination of Adam is a fascinating piece, even though it may feel chaotic or convoluted. It hits with a heavy riff and progresses into a black metal-influenced section with such instrumental density and detail that it is tough to follow at first glance. A clarinet surfaces and joins the maelstrom. Synths quiver madly in the background. Toby intones a broken and persistent verse –it is not hard to extract that evil is a focal theme in Coffins on Io, as related to sex, murder and death. But the song embraces the most unexpected and outright genius turn of events towards its ending as a saxophone changes the pattern, driving maniacally to the end of the line in a dynamic scene of distorted guitars, heavenly bass and a sax struggling to sublimate tension. The Assassination of Adam drafts an extremely intense slide in the course of the journey.
And as it is archetypical of Kayo Dot, violence is entwined with moments of calm and beauty. Catharsis is a definitive key to their music. Such is the fate of Coffins on Io, excerpted by the closing track, Spirit Photography. Its tone infers a cooled down, stoic, yet still melancholic picture of past events; although still traumatized, the character accepts his suffering as well as his link to damnation, staring at the devastated pale blue barren of his existence, serenely anticipating death. Spirit Photography creates a moody, enchanting atmosphere that is clearly reminiscent of noir films. After an extended, beautiful saxophone solo, Toby repeats an enigmatic verse to put the journey to a lucid conclusion.
All in all, Coffins on Io is a solid addition to Kayo Dot’s perpetually morphing discography, a unique and thoroughly enjoyable album that, while corrugated by some minor flaws and debatable decisions, sets a new stone in Kayo’s neverending musical wandering. Carefully composed, wonderfully executed, Coffins on Io is another quality release which demonstrates that Kayo haven't lost a bit of their form. It is now up to the reader to decide whether he delves into this trip to madness with potentially insurmountable repercussions… or stays on the safe side.
