Crooked Colours - Langata (Vinyl LP)

Langata is the second album from Crooked Colours, the Perth electronic trio of Philip Slabber, Leon Debaughn and Liam Merrett-Park. It is a record of atmospheric, hypnotic electronic dance music built from beats, soft vocals, synths and guitar. Released on Sweat It Out on 17 May 2019, it followed their 2017 debut Vera. Much of it was written on the road, across tours of the US, Canada, the UK and mainland Europe. The album takes its name from Langata, a district of Nairobi in Kenya where the band spent time while deep in the writing process. Sounds gathered while travelling found their way into the music, including choral samples recorded in New Caledonia on opening track 'I'll Be There'. The trio wrote, recorded and produced the album themselves, with mixing by David Wrench and Tim Watts. New Zealand singer-songwriter Ladyhawke features on 'Never Dance Alone', and 'I'll Be There', 'Do It Like You' and 'Hold On' were singles. Triple j made Langata a feature album on release, and it reached number 52 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The artwork is by Leif Podhajsky. Reviewers placed the band alongside Australian electronic acts such as RÜFÜS DU SOL and Mansionair, with an indie dance sound that favours clarity and restraint over big drops.