A born and bred Londoner, Loraine James has stood at an arms length from the swift and unforgiving hammer blow of gentrification, evident in the cover art for her second full length album, For You And I. The cover displays a photograph of four tower blocks in 2006, and behind it the same setting in 2019, minus one of the original buildings which has been renovated into luxury apartments. “I started making music in those flats, news of my Dad and Uncle passing away happened in that flat, I came out to my
mum crying in that flat. Most of my life has been there and in so many years time this area will no longer exist.” Alongside the task of remembering her upbringing, James also notes the album as being a sonic portrait of her feelings towards queer relationships and the difficulty of being openly gay in public “A lot of the time I’m really scared in displaying any kind of affection in public. This album is more about feeling than about using certain production skills.” Whether it tackles the role of reminiscing of memories in a family home or adding warmth to the sacred face of a partner, For You And I carries out the task and then some. Everything from lofi ambience and softened vocals from Le3 bLACK, to twisting plastic-like textures and raw, creative distortion come together for a record that’s sweet and careful in some places, while being a murky puddle of controlled chaos in others, just like everyday life.
Where to start:
‘For You And I’ – Glitchy chip-tune styled sound design
‘My Future’ – Attention grabbing drum rhythms and stripped back vocal work
‘So Scared’ – Obscurely processed vocal and drum sounds manipulated to good effect
Previous from Loraine James:
Detail LP (2017)
Button Mashing EP (2019, New York Haunted)
If you like this then check out:
Antwood – Delphi LP (2019, Planet Mu)
Klein – Lifetime LP (2019, ijn inc.)
Loraine James – For You And I LP is out now on Hyperdub.