Sunday June 11 * 7pm * TICKETS
On their first album, Me:You—a new collaboration between Mourning [A] BLKstar co-founders RA Washington and LaToya Kent—presents a simmering, enigmatic brew full of groove, distortion and haze. In contrast to the pointed lyrics and wide-ranging genre blend of Mourning [A] BLKstar, Me:You dunks music in a swirling brew of drum beats, guitars, bass, synth, and tape loops, revealing an immersive world that spotlights a woman who loves hard, with nods to punk, jazz and R&B. Along with Washington’s production and Kent’s vocals, Field Tapes in Der Trash features contributions from Jah Nada (of Obnox and Bloody Show, who released a winning collaboration with Washington on Astral Spirits last year) and Laura B. Me:You will tour in support of the record in June 2023.
"...ambitious debut album.... Given the sprawling, ambitious vision of the collective’s discography, this record is a welcome change of pace, opting for minimalist arrangements that reveal the amount of depth and meaning that can be wrought from simple melodies and textures. That can be heard immediately on the opener “Burns”, which takes a spare drum beat and accompanies it with persistent buzzes and a warbling guitar solo. “I got a little magic in my pocket”, sings Kent. Both here and on the rest of the album, she lets her unadorned vocals rub up against shoddy production, conjuring up something mystical in the everyday. It’s this confidence in the material that allows Field Tapes to shine – it has the feeling of wandering aimlessly in a drunken stupor and stumbling upon something fantastical. Sonically, it’s linked with triphop’s murk and sensuality, but also the lo-fi fantasias of Klein and Kathleen Daniel. That songs can vary in length but have equal impact attests to Me:You’s understanding of restraint and release: tracks like “Git Ready” and “Sun Zsu” don’t even break the two minute mark, but their looping production is hypnotic enough to ensnare you. “The Current History Of Blue” is five minutes of a similar, hypnagogic haze, but it allows one to revel in its lethargic beat and poetic recitations. More than any other song, its guitar melodies, reverberating vocal sample and moody bassline feel like they’re in a seductive dance. The best songs on Field Tapes feel kinetic, like something is constantly brewing. You can sense that in Kent’s impassioned vocals across “Dirt”, or the punk spirit that lights “Gimlet” on fire. But it’s also in the introspective, tape-looped guitar reveries of “Antiquity”. Washington and Kent know that music is active – alive – and their command of its elements shows both their mastery and reverence." -The Wire
