On a relentless tour schedule and currently touring the UK until mid-November – where he then moves onto the North American continent – James Rockhill a.k.a Kove dropped his eagerly anticipated EP ‘Murmurations’ just over three weeks ago. This outstanding 4-track collection, promoted via MTA Records, displays a variant in Kove’s musical style across several genres.
The first tune on the list, ‘Drop’ focuses on his Electro House elements, stemming away from his favourable and popular known Drum and Bass stance. ‘Drop’ is most definitely at the other end of the scale in terms of the musical style that you would expect from Kove. That being said, its seems to bridge the gap of Kove’s knowledge and experimentation of genres between productions like ‘Drop’ contrasting to his previous hits in the DnB scene with fan favourites such as ‘Night Thought’; ‘Searching’ and ‘Way We Are’ – the latter giving Kove’s his first top 40 single in the UK.
‘Drop’ in its artistic form is 4 minutes and 40 seconds of non-stop energetic bass and futuristic edgy synth patterns. The word on SoundCloud is that this dance floor filler has had a mixed bag in terms of listener reviews. The negatives could possibly be due to the style of ‘Drop’, again not being able to except the exploratory but temporary change in Kove’s sound production. Nonetheless, this atmospheric composition of solid kick drums and a dark ambient feel has gained praise from some of the big names in the EDM world. For example, before the EP’s release, Radio 1’s Annie Mac gave ‘Drop’ its debut spin on the 19th September.
Kove posted his reasoning for ‘Drop’ to quell the adversity with the following: “Just to clarify – ‘Drop’ is supposed to be a bit of a silly tune for the club where it seems to work…You have to try out new things; otherwise it can all get a bit stagnant. Some work, some don’t, it’s all subjective.”
On a side note, this shows the maturity of Kove in the sense of his willingness to learn and try out new musical styles; giving himself the ability to breathe creatively while stating his intention not to be rendered as a one-genre artist, of which you can only respect and admire him for that. So there’s no need to worry Kove fans, his original sound isn’t going anywhere!
Moving back on topic, song number two on ‘Murmurations’ is my personal favourite from the EP, this time it’s a collaboration with promising London-based producer Dimension to construct ‘Feel Love Again’. This track is bursting at the seams with colour, emblazoning as a dynamic and euphoric drum and bass banger. I cannot stress enough how much of a prominence this track has in terms of its uplifting backbeat and captivating melody of synth play.
‘Feel Love Again’ is arguably the strongest song on the EP and it has the potential to catapult both Kove and Dimension even higher on the star platform if this becomes the breakout single of ‘Murmurations’. After having several hits on his debut EP ‘Measures’; who knows what could happen in the future for Kove, if ‘Feel Love Again’ manages to be recognised as a worldwide DnB anthem for 2014.
Next up ‘VCO’ is a compact bass track with on-point reverberations to create a mass raving frenzy to keep all you bass-heads happy. If Annie Mac noticed ‘Drop’ be sure that the eponymous Radio 1 host and DJ; along with many other disc-jockeys and producers becoming aware of this fascinating belter throughout the rest of the year.
Rounding out the EP is ‘Still High’, currently number 1 in the TNG Chart this week. ‘Still High’ is an epic fusion of soothing piano keys and spiritually ethereal vocals layered over an underlying and fluttering drum and bass backbeat – a production to raise the hairs on the back of your neck while exhibiting the notion of chillout vibes. ‘Still High’ is another astute and flawless track provided by Kove.
To conclude, ‘Murmurations’ is one I tip to purchase before the year closes out. If you’re the type of listener who is open to other brands of music – with the ever-changing landscape that is the EDM world with many artists dabbling in other genres – then this successful manufacturing of a compilation of styles by Kove is for you.
Check out ‘Feel Love Again’ below and try to think of a valid reason to resist downloading this magnificent EP! I bet you can’t.
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