NEW ARTIST FINDS: ØRKA

ØRKA is an artist in the vein of Flying Lotus or James Blake but I feel that there’s a lot of small but meaningful innovations that sets them apart from their influences. The music is downtempo, dark and dramatic but never boring or sleep inducing, even when the track strays into somewhat psychedelic territories. 

"Tell me" is deceptively simple. The piano intro is fairly typical but gives off a pleasant Sigur Ros vibe. The vocals come in smoothly and the warped, echoed verses add to the atmosphere created by the piano. It’s still pretty standard fare, even as the stuttered drums and pitch shifted vocal samples are introduced. But then the sweetest, most sensual saxophone solo just skyrockets the track into the stratosphere. I was close to losing interest, but the sax drew me in. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, the saxophonist just jams for a bit. And this is what I meant when I said meaningful innovations. Instead of just loops and repetition, ØRKA incorporates a little bit of jazz into the composition that gives it an organic feel, as opposed to the cut and paste nature of a lot of electronic music.

ØRKA - TELL ME

"Phantom" is my favorite of the two tracks, with haunting guitar work taking center stage. Again, the fundamentals of the track is all stuff I’ve heard before but ØRKA utilizes live instruments to give the machines a pulse. The delayed guitar jam soothes us into an almost hallucinatory haze and the brushed snares are calming enough to slow one’s heart rate. I’d call it a love theme, and if anything, it’s great music to spoon to.

ØRKA - PHANTOM

ØRKA is a mysterious and engaging artist who makes great use of instrumentation to give the music new life and dimension. A full album would surely ooze atmosphere and sensuality, so I will be following ØRKA’s progress eagerly. Thanks to curator Golden Wolf for another great find.