Mount Kimbie’s haunted sound crosses categorical boundaries; from garage to pop to ambient to chillwave to glo-fi to dubstep and even R&B. But a music journalist won’t do the U.K. based band much justice by attempting to box them in with genres or give readers a point of reference for listening. Mount Kimbie offer a breed of cool of their own – sceneless, if you will.
Mount Kimbie’s debut album, Crooks and Lovers, released by Hotflush Recordings in July of this year, creates a dangerous interconnection between, well, crooks and lovers. Mount Kimbie occupies the euphonic space between dreaming and reality – a hypnotic space that they stretch and distort to no end with their hazy compositions and delicate melody shifts. It was, after all, because of this duo that the term post-dubstep (whatever that means) was brought to life.
Dominic Maker and Kai Campos make up Mount Kimbie, creating sounds that swing between tender nostalgia and soothing raindrops that echo through the body of a piece. There’s a strong sense of emotive seriousness here – something that can be severely lacking in the electronic music that garners the most attention. However, don’t be fooled by all the musings, Mount Kimbie’s beat-focused music is dance-worthy just the same.
Mount Kimbie is emblematic of a new age of music – where genres mean a whole lot less, and experimentation, diversity, and DIY culture reign. Auteurs of their own work, Mount Kimbie will pique your curiosity and take you to new heights.