Love What Survives [VINYL]

• music

Love What Survives is the third studio album from Mount Kimbie. It is a melodic yet robust electronic record for driving with the windows down and a distillation of their career to date, mixing multiple singing voices and musical personalities, flirting with freeform experimentation, pop tropes and an expansive sonic palette. As the title suggests the record is the product of three years of intense creative development, continually honed by the duo writing and rewriting their ideas to form something wholly idiosyncratic and personal. It brings together the voices of their close friends and collaborators - who together represent a corner of the UK's young artistic talent - James Blake, Micachu and King Krule, within the immersive, unique atmosphere of a Mount Kimbie album. It's the most confident statement of intent from the boundary-pushing duo yet, and an embodiment of their career-long musical progression. Making this album, says Kai Campos - who along with Dominic Maker is Mount Kimbie - "was about taking away everything that had been successful for us before". Love What Survives was made mostly on just two vintage synths, a Korg MS-20, and a Korg Delta. Both instruments have what Kai describes a "punk and janky, Robert Wyatt quality". With an industrial character and a direct playing style, these synths pushed Mount Kimbie toward their bold new sound. The album reveals a freer, warmer and more confident Mount Kimbie. "Having more people involved has really helped let go of a bit of control", Dom Maker explains. "The memory of this record is very different from the last one. This one feels very bright, and the last one feels really dark. I guess that comes from having it be something that's shared with friends".