Little Dragon Little Dragon by: Liam Tracey Tue:04-Dec-07 Label: Peacefrog Year: 2007 WB rating 78 out of 100

Creating an album that relies on simplicity is a difficult task for any artist because they run the risk of driving the listener to boredom. Sweden’s Little Dragon has, however, crafted a debut release that uses a simplistic base and covers it in genuinely intricate sounds and experimentations that rarely allow the listener to be sidetracked. While a once-over listen of this album might reveal a soul base, Little Dragon is actually a gorgeous blend of jazz, funk and late 90s inspired soul alongside a slew of electronic samples. One shouldn’t be fooled by the dominance of sampling on this record, however, as there is so much more to Little Dragon’s sound than simply the work of a computer.

What surprises most upon listening to Little Dragon is that instrumentally, the four-piece are a European outfit capable of producing a quality of soul that could be blindly considered an American product. Singer Yukimi Nagano’s vocals are at the sound’s heart as she moves between a faster, R&B style and a gentle faintness that has been likened to more subtle Bjork material. While these similarities are very occasionally justified, Nagano’s voice is often much more reminiscent of Macy Gray, the singers sharing a distinct raspy quality no more evident than in ‘Recommendation’.

Fredrik Källgren Wallin’s bass lines are smoothly crafted to carry Nagano’s vocals and ensure that such a raspy quality does not deter the listener. Moreover, the backing vocals and harmonies provided by each band member ensure the soulful approach mirrors soul music’s gospel roots. On Little Dragon, the band has produced soul music equal to anything coming out of the United States today.

The electronic element of Little Dragon is cleverly blended with the keys, bass and drums, ensuring it does not overpower the record and damage the moody feel that many of its songs produce. The fast sampling in ‘Constant Surprises’ and cymbal looping on ‘After the Rain’ are similar to electronic elements used by Goldfrapp and create music the listener will want to move to.

There are, however, a handful of risks that Little Dragon take with their electronic art that do not pay off. The tedious looping during ‘Turn Left’ lingers on the brink of annoyance, and there is some clunky percussion during ‘After the Rain’ that leave the listener disconcerted. For the most part though, the constant sampling is skilfully applied as a backdrop for the group’s instrumentation.

While this is, generally speaking, a soul record, there are some tracks thrown into the mix that stand out due to a distinct variety that helps the simplistic, laid back feel of the album avoid boring the listener. ‘Scribbled Paper’ is distinctly jazzy in feel, ignoring the use of excessive sampling, while the electronic funk of ‘Turn Left’ provides a dance-worthy number. Even among the individual tracks hide playful treasures like joyous claps and randomly inserted operatic backing vocals that draw the listener’s attention.

Also standing out is the soul ballad ‘Stormy Weather’, which is led only by keyboard and Nagano’s voice. Beautifully sung, the track provides a late interlude that allows the entirety of the record to sink in. Don’t be mistaken, every track here is still laid back and chilled, yet each has its own quality that distinguishes from the next and hence creates awesome diversity.

Little Dragon have delved into something particularly exciting on their first long player because the sound that is created seems so unexpected from the Swedish. This rousing debut is a risk that has paid off for the group; what could potentially have been an album to drift off to sleep to is actually something worth hearing start to finish. Essentially a chill-out soul album, but with the fantastic blend of electronic and conventional approaches, Little Dragon’s debut has certainly worked out well.