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seigfried komidashi explores self-identity and anxieties in his gripping new EP 'Sagittarius Rising'



After a string of releases throughout 2020, komidashi comes at us with another all-encompassing release on the Blancmange Lounge label. Sagittarius Rising is a beautiful confluence of modern life laid bare, born out of isolation. Teaming up with Sheffield producer Zillch, the pair generate a mix of cinematic soundscapes and mind freeing poetry that drifts through warm layered textural tracks. The result; a moving four-track EP you feel you can almost touch, a sound so tangible it stands by you in isolation. There’s something very secure and grounding about this record, especially at this time when it’s important to be at ease. As the rapper, poet, saxophonist and songwriter puts it in his lyrics, “Freeing people with his pen.”



The tracks hang onto the lyrics, resonating like newly unearthed scripture. From what feels a very meditative approach, komadashi elegantly delivers his poetry in layers between the variety of samples and jazzy tones. Fluid afro-futurist vocals hit hard with honest truths. Drawing from experiences of growing up Black in white spaces, the EP explores the conflict between his definition of self and the one placed on him by the outside world - "A sonic journey through liminal space, playing on the intangibility of the two through sound and poetry."



The choppy arhythmic arrangement adds to its lo-fi approachable feel. At times it feels like listening on an old radio trying to get the right tuning, with the drifting and floating result in an ethereal feeling almost slipping out of grasp. The result is a transient and fleeting sound, all the while conveying sincere and often vulnerable emotions. Rolling ambiguous rhythms and samples generate an MF DOOM vibe, playing with atypical rhythms and rhyming styles. The record brought to light possible influences such as Earl Sweatshirt, Gil Scott-Heron and early work from Archy Marshall (King Krule). What’s engaging is the records ability to form something so raw and hip-hop orientated with such a variety of sounds.

In ‘Epoch’, muffled lo-fi piano grooves cut through the abrasive confrontational vocal samples. All the while, the thick rolling bass tones drive the track and build a deep-rooted romantic melancholy that couldn’t be born out of anywhere but North-West London. There’s an eclectic mix carried throughout the EP; each track creates something warm and nostalgic, providing space and time to listen, reflect and absorb the patchwork of sounds.


This confluence is one that is evolving and pulsating, distant rhythms fly by in a world of sounds and emotions. It’s not trying to be pretty or flaunt what it’s got; it’s honest, appealing and inviting. Bringing together what originally must have been pretty disparate elements the duo form an encompassing hybrid-sound crossing multiple borders, grounded in a variety of genres but still with a natural organic feel. The space komidashi and Zillch have formed with this record is one that will invite you to revisit time and time again.

Hugh Roberts


Read Komadashi's pertinent lyrics to 'Epoch' below.

EPOCH

day 4, quarantine

sun shining lazily,

hazy

times flows unabated,

fuck platonic dialogues

im still chasing

still waiting

contemplating routes of escapes

but the rues look the same,

empty,


been lonely since october

been trapped like haematomas

still tryna dodge corona


and this pandemic epidemic to this 73m2

tryna craft a better me

with yoga

and trips to the 93 franprix,

with headwrap musky

scalp greased,

im moneyless

these banks dont trust me


i still wrestle with this apathy

isaac staring down stairs,

demons tryna body me

i lost grip on reality,

for a while my nib like a lost rib,

so i walk these paths alone

just leaning on my vices

my cain is just a snake

never abel to forget past shame

im estranged in foreign plaines

tryna prophecy a better way


id hoped

wished

dreamed

maybe you’d see i was all about doing it naturally

explains why we were fucking

cutting

mucking around

and i left,

a ghost as always


i sparked flames with tinder

and of course I had my faults

notes as long a list as Schindlers

i pined interest pinned to your chest wishing the days away

saw tears when we left

gripped chest,

heart bereft

fleeing

i guess,

running away to be the child you knew best


now im here,

stressed in a city of bright lights

bar fights and vibrant lilac neon strips give tips for baccy

a place I thought i could to be happy

for a while at (least)


now im here,

attracting masses of stares like a priest in montmatre

wonder when the fuck this all started

thought being sad was temporary but like fireflies time flies flitting quite

befitting really

the fake was all I saw

see more flaws in this diamond

all fours when we lying bout not giving a fuck about star signs


the bell tolls too soon

bridged between the shrooms and room to be me and to be the man you see on tv

hopefully one i day might

achieve it

and its sunday,

mourning

im falling, different,

entirely splitting missing days gone before

4/4 q door to door,

face faces floor

flaws ripple on seashores

and i clawed at the gates of hell

if Sisyphus that bold why the boulder roll over the shoulder

im colder than february mornings

crisper than november sunlight

so we stay gorgeous

stalking under sour moonrise

still searching for the limelight

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