FlyKKiller’s Experiments In Violent Light was one of the best and most creative debuts of last year. Though, as is often the case, it seemed to slip beneath most of the media’s radar – aside from being runner-up for album of the year in The Times.
The album creeps up on you, transforming itself from a hypnotic leftfield curiosity into an album that becomes irresistibly accessible with repeated listens.
Polish-born singer and composer Pati Yang and sometime David Holmes collaborator Stephen Hilton’s music is a heady brew of rabble-rousing electronic rock, rough-edged beats and dark atmospherics on one hand and hook-heavy at times, mellow contemplativeness on the other.
They hit the ground running tonight with the glam rock stomp of FlyKKiller, then delve into the edgy Peroxide before flowing into current single Shine Out, shifting styles and tempos but maintaining momentum. New material is also aired, from uplifting, fuzzy electronica with euphoric dance hooks to ragga basslines that get the throng jumping around joyfully. Pati Yang is lost in the moment with her heart on her sleeve throughout, walking off the small Fly stage a couple of times to join the crowd as she sings and dances.
Light and dark combine within both the music, with its delicate melodies and scuffed beats, and the vocals, which are tender and light one minute then raw and raging the next. There may be a subtle sense of artists such as Massive Attack, Siouxie Sioux and Portishead but these are merely faint echoes that do little to dilute FlyKKiller’s own striking identity. Besides there are broader influences such as hip hop, pop, goth and industrial at play as well.
Edgy and not polished to ease digestion, this was a mesmerising performance full of brooding passion, energy and emotion. It’s a spectacle deserving of larger venues where FlyKKiller can really spread their creative wings both musically and visually. With images and artwork created by Pati herself displayed throughout the venue to add to the full-on sensory experience and even the sign altered to The FlyKKiller for the night, the self-signed duo’s attention to detail is evident.
Their lack of widespread recognition may be due to the fact there is so much, readily accessible music out there now that it’s hard to get yourself heard as a band, however good you are. Sometimes cultivating a fanbase through word of mouth is far better than overnight fame and fortune though, plus it means the band are allowed to evolve at their own pace. One thing that’s for certain though, FlyKKiller have the potential to achieve widespread success and it’s more a case of when that happens, rather than if.
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