This 12-track bedroom recording from 23-year-old Idris Vicuña is a free download from his website (yep, free, just head to eyedress.hearing-colors.com). It’s is a mixtape of sorts, but not the type where the tracks segue into each other; the songs work well individually, though even better as a sequence.
The music on Hearing Colours evokes the skittish beats of the Italians Do It Better label. Skint Eastwood contributes detached vocals on half of the songs and it’s a deft match for Vicuña’s brittle beat-making, with all of their collaborative tracks given song titles that sound like toxic chemicals.
“It’s not our fault” is the sleepy-eyed sigh on Biolumine, but there are sinister forces lurking behind the cool facade. A little more angst comes through on Vicuña’s own vocals and he counters the impassive tones of Skint Eastwood on the spidery, stalking Nature Trips, with itsgloomy “I just wanna forget everything that’s making me feel bad” addressing self-destructive drug-taking.
As the mix progresses, the tempo (and bleakness) softens and the last few songs evoke the almost-sleeping beauty of Washed Out and The Radio Department. It’s a spooky, sexy trip from a new artist who’s one to watch. And who can argue with (legally) free music?
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Triduum
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Halfaxa GRIMES, Life Of Leisure EP WASHED OUT, (II) CRYSTAL CASTLES
In A Word: Shadowy
