I’ve never tried heroin.

But after listening to Louis Baker's new EP Medicine, I have a greater appreciation of what the experience may be like. John Travolta said that in preparing for his role in Pulp Fiction, a heroin user had suggested that to simulate the feeling, Travolta should get himself absolutely plastered on good Tequila while relaxing in a hot spa, that’s something I actually have done, and it's exactly what it feels like listening to this record.

Medicine is like a crock pot of soft tones, tight grooves and meaningful lyrics. Each song unique, yet part of a greater idea, the kind of cohesive concept album that is a rarity today. For someone with explosive vocal chops like Louis Baker, one might expect to hear him putting on a vocal power show, but instead he wields his prodigious skill with the delicate precision of a renaissance painter. Gently gliding his voice through the melody, only to suddenly let loose and send a chill down the listeners spine.

The EP begins with Fools Expectation, a philosophical treatise on the folly of believing the illusion that the world you wish to see, is in fact, the world as it is, and the inevitable despair that results from its collapse into reality. He sends you on a lyrical journey accompanied by tastefully arpeggiated guitar over a lethargic BPM that leisurely guides you through this introspective journey into the artists view of hope and loss.

Medicine, the title track of the EP, is a classic neo-soul ode to the healing power of music. A concept so universal that its presence is ubiquitous across culture and time. The connection between the two is so engrained that in ancient Chinese script the symbols for music and medicine are practically one and the same. The warm hopefully feeling one gets listening to this song is underscored and emphasised by Reverb soaked guitar hooks and improvisational key lines that float effortlessly over the dominant snare hits that centre and drive the song.

Louis closes out his new EP with an uplifting call to just Keep On. After soulfully suggesting we take a hard and honest look at ourselves in the beginning of the record, he ends with a triumphant refrain, that regardless of what has or will happen, you just need to keep on moving, and to make this easier for you he provides baseline so funky it automatically turns your tail bone into a pendulum and can will even the most despondent of us to wiggle our way back into action.

• 1
  Head Like A Hole
• 2
  Horror Story
• 3
  Fraser Ross
• 4
  Fur Patrol
• 5
  Michelle Rounds
• 6
  L.A.B.
• 7
  Devilskin
• 8
  Coridian
• 9
  The Boondocks
• 10
  Late to Chelsea

• 
  LOST BiRD @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Just Janie @ Space Academy, Christchurch - 15/12/2024
• 
  Dream Chambers @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024
• 
  The Phoenix Foundation @ Meow Nui, Wellington - 14/12/2024

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
  Gigi Perez
• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
  Teddy Swims
• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

• Privacy Policy
• Disclaimer
• Copyright Statement

• Contact
• Advertising
• About Us