Yakul - Outlines

Following their 2021 debut album, ‘Rise Indigo’, the band ready themselves to embark on an explorative new venture ‘Outlines’. On the release, frontman James Berkeley explains: “‘This was the first project that we wrote in the room together. Over the past couple years we’ve taken several writing trips to the countryside where we fully disconnect and just write music all day. Lyrically the EP deals with themes of escapism and questions focusing around consciousness and reality.”

Forging uncharted territory for the four-piece, they call upon saturated vocals and unpolished percussion accentuated with a warm dose of Yakul’s signature synthesis. Launching headfirst into the EP opening ‘Take Flight’. A technicolour and mesmerising offering, it melds saturated vocals, unpolished percussion run through a reel to reel tape machine. Lyrically, it muses over escapism and having distinct but separate sides to oneself. Next up, ‘Time To Lose’ opts for a more laid back approach, as gliding melodies ride atop a low slung beat, with falsetto vocals paving the way for a beautiful guest feature from fast rising artist Adi Oasis. Drawing from the same moody territory, ‘The Space’ takes one step beyond with sweeping analog synth swells, saturated vocals and stuttering tape delays coalescing into a vivid wall of sound, inspired by 80’s Sci-Fi soundtracks. Bringing the EP to a close, ‘Falling Sky’ opens with dreamlike chords rippling through the speakers, building slowly towards a powerful crescendo.