KAYO DOT - Coffins On Io

Stellar!

Imagine a silver string stretched out across the room. Every of its seven segments is decked with objects of such a variety in shape, size, weight and colour, that they almost seem to be a random streak of elements, suspended magically in space. You can barely see what's linking them all. Yet every time Toby Driver and his ever changing team puts out an album, you instantly recognize who pulls that string. While Hubardo could be, as a last resort, described as a summary of all things Kayo Dot-ish, maudlin-ish and Driver-ish in general, Coffins on Io, just like Coyote before it, is a venture into new territories. 

However, while Coyote treads a bumpy path of chamber disharmony, Coffins on Io, instead of treading a path on foot, drives a Mustang '67 convertible along a desolate highway with southern lights in the night sky above. Every Kayo Dot album features a conceptual basis that provides the whole thing with a core. Even Hubardo was strangely consistent despite its eclecticism. Coffins on Io on the other hand is a rather focused effort... for this band. It is indeed an album heavily inspired by retro-futuro artists of the 80s, Vangelis to name just one. Equally noticeable is David Bowie's influence, especially thanks to Toby Driver's charismatic vocal delivery. You can also get some Joy Division vibes, especially in the second track. Brian Ferry also comes to mind. Generally speaking, songwriting is more minimal compared to the previous album and more focused on subtle evolution through repetition of themes. All that gives the album a quite psychedelic character. Still, somehow Kayo Dot once again escapes categorization and despite more traceable influences than ever before, it's still a band one of its kind.

Coffins on Io charms the listener with dreamy psychedelia and retro pop touches, but as any other Kayo Dot album it requires more than just your attention - it requires you to discover and feel the creative passion that boils just like the magma underneath the surface of Io. As your perception of the music evolves with time, the album does so as well, and before you know it, you're submerged in a polyphonic hell. And you know what? If this kind of hell exists, I'm going to sin as much as possible just to get there.