Raisa K
On Technicolour
BIOGRAPHY
If the name Raisa K is new to you, you’re about to discover one of the most exciting new artists the UK has produced of late. Raisa Khan is a young musician who's already established serious pedigree. A core member of Micachu and the Shapes, sometime producer and bass player for DELS, and collaborator with Kwes, and The Invisible, she's also a Guildhall and Red Bull Music Academy graduate. A well-known face in the thrilling musical renaissance currently taking place in L...
If the name Raisa K is new to you, you’re about to discover one of the most exciting new artists the UK has produced of late. Raisa Khan is a young musician who's already established serious pedigree. A core member of Micachu and the Shapes, sometime producer and bass player for DELS, and collaborator with Kwes, and The Invisible, she's also a Guildhall and Red Bull Music Academy graduate. A well-known face in the thrilling musical renaissance currently taking place in London and around those aforementioned acts, Raisa is a central part of a scene of artists more concerned with their art than the 'scene.'
Her debut EP establishes her as more than just a member of this loose collection, but as one of its very brightest lights. From the astounding opener 'Repetition,' Raisa's lo-fi, post-punk aesthetic is made clear. What really strikes the ear, though, is her musicality. Not for nothing does this crop of young musicians play a variety of instruments in a variety of bands. Raisa is a genuine player. The real deal.
On the EPs vocal tracks, the sweetness of her singing and tone bely the sceptical bite of her lyrics; there's a hopeful weariness and a half-hidden yearning that you feel could only come from London, now. That deceptive sweetness is even more at odds with the ominous, absurdist threat of 'Feeder.'
The EPs intro arrests with its industrial, grimey stabs, and sets out Raisa's perfect marriage of ambient soundscapes and textures to muscular percussion and contagious melody. Like bandmate Micachu, Raisa matches unabashed experimentalism with slanted, visceral pop. But, also like Micachu, there's an indelible, unique stamp in Raisa's melodies; the songs on this EP could only belong to her. There's a sonic and emotional cohesiveness across the songs that reveals a rare maturity of talent and a bold new voice. Those sweet, skeptical vocals don't sound like anyone else working today. At times they remind the listener of no one more than X-Ray Spex's late, great Poly Styrene.
On 'Seasick Sailors' and 'Guitary,' teasingly beautiful fragments of sound and melody leave the ear straining for more, before they meld gloriously together and abruptly make sense. As well as easily matching the most bleeding edge of electronic bedroom-boys, there are moments here that Stephen Malkmus, Lou Barlow or Thurston Moore might be proud of.
There's much more than what might be considered just an EP here. Over 20 minutes of rich, rewarding, astonishing music, Raisa K lays a claim to be a key name to watch in 2013, and then some.
Raisa K
On Technicolour
Singles
Latest News
BIOGRAPHY
If the name Raisa K is new to you, you’re about to discover one of the most exciting new artists the UK has produced of late. Raisa Khan is a young musician who's already established serious pedigree. A core member of Micachu and the Shapes, sometime producer and bass player for DELS, and collaborator with Kwes, and The Invisible, she's also a Guildhall and Red Bull Music Academy graduate. A well-known face in the thrilling musical renaissance currently taking place in London and around tho...
If the name Raisa K is new to you, you’re about to discover one of the most exciting new artists the UK has produced of late. Raisa Khan is a young musician who's already established serious pedigree. A core member of Micachu and the Shapes, sometime producer and bass player for DELS, and collaborator with Kwes, and The Invisible, she's also a Guildhall and Red Bull Music Academy graduate. A well-known face in the thrilling musical renaissance currently taking place in London and around those aforementioned acts, Raisa is a central part of a scene of artists more concerned with their art than the 'scene.'
Her debut EP establishes her as more than just a member of this loose collection, but as one of its very brightest lights. From the astounding opener 'Repetition,' Raisa's lo-fi, post-punk aesthetic is made clear. What really strikes the ear, though, is her musicality. Not for nothing does this crop of young musicians play a variety of instruments in a variety of bands. Raisa is a genuine player. The real deal.
On the EPs vocal tracks, the sweetness of her singing and tone bely the sceptical bite of her lyrics; there's a hopeful weariness and a half-hidden yearning that you feel could only come from London, now. That deceptive sweetness is even more at odds with the ominous, absurdist threat of 'Feeder.'
The EPs intro arrests with its industrial, grimey stabs, and sets out Raisa's perfect marriage of ambient soundscapes and textures to muscular percussion and contagious melody. Like bandmate Micachu, Raisa matches unabashed experimentalism with slanted, visceral pop. But, also like Micachu, there's an indelible, unique stamp in Raisa's melodies; the songs on this EP could only belong to her. There's a sonic and emotional cohesiveness across the songs that reveals a rare maturity of talent and a bold new voice. Those sweet, skeptical vocals don't sound like anyone else working today. At times they remind the listener of no one more than X-Ray Spex's late, great Poly Styrene.
On 'Seasick Sailors' and 'Guitary,' teasingly beautiful fragments of sound and melody leave the ear straining for more, before they meld gloriously together and abruptly make sense. As well as easily matching the most bleeding edge of electronic bedroom-boys, there are moments here that Stephen Malkmus, Lou Barlow or Thurston Moore might be proud of.
There's much more than what might be considered just an EP here. Over 20 minutes of rich, rewarding, astonishing music, Raisa K lays a claim to be a key name to watch in 2013, and then some.