Louis Baker - EP Review: Love Levitates
Love Levitates is a triumph for Aotearoa soul star Louis Baker. Merging a diverse range of genres including funk, pop, soul and R&B, Baker's assured sense of identity grounds each song as a cohesive whole. Alongside producer Devin Abrams, of Shapeshifter and Pacific Heights fame, each song's sweeping melodies and clean structures are wrapped tight within layered vocals and unexpected, exciting instrumentation.
Divided into two sections by an enchanting instrumental mid-EP, Love Levitates structures themes of how we give and receive love inside its perfectly ordered track listing. The EP's musical and conceptual progression feels natural and even, leaving little room for listeners to slip out of its immersion.
Opening track Brighter Day's timeless lyricism, subtle yet shimmering guitar and smooth hook perfectly set the tone of the EP. It introduces the sparkling strings emphasised throughout, as they blossom beneath almost every track. Overdrive takes a more funk-infused approach, exploring the mind games and nervousness of a newfound romance. Following its steady melodic hook, Overdrive smartly leaves space for stylish instrumental sections. Its fantastic feature from rapper Kings adds some humour and wordplay to the song, successfully balancing out the rest of the song's earnest emotion. The following titular track, Love Levitates, opens with a beautiful piano melody which soon gives way to jaunty percussion and the silky vocals Baker is renowned for.
In the EP's second half, Won't Forget offers Baker's lyrical promise to stand by the people in his life, in the same way they stand by him. The track's stacked vocals and percussion strengthen the message without distracting from the sincerity of his performance. Into Your Life provides the EP's best lyrics, visualising the romance Baker depicts whilst showcasing Baker's honeyed vocals.
Love Levitates is everything Baker has come to be known and loved for, but with a colourful filter overtop which clarifies every one of his musical strengths. This EP will envelope you, and then leave you exactly as Baker intended, "thinking about the love we leave".
About Louis Baker
Crafting his work from a place of deep artistic integrity, Louis has gathered a loyal following that spans the world over. Everyone from India.Arie (“Louis Baker, you sing my soul,”) to BBC 6 Music, Clash Magazine and Earmilk have shown love for what he is, and has become.
Growing up in the working-class suburb of Newtown, Wellington, Louis developed his passion for music at an early age listening to his parents diverse record collection, which featured the likes of Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye and Joni Mitchell.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Louis Baker
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