Preview
LAL
Thursday, January 27
Broken City
Sometimes the name does say it all. With soft vowels and round consonants, LAL relays the wonderfully eclectic, lush sound of the Toronto-based electronic trio. When their sophomore album Warm Belly High Power, released last year, gave them the opportunity to tour across the country and broaden their fan base, they found themselves at the top of many critics’ year-end lists.
Vocalist Rosina Kazi admits that it’s been a bit of a whirlwind since the release, but like anyone who finds themselves in the spotlight, she’s excited about getting her music out to as many people as possible. In this post-Portishead landscape, it’s nice to hear low-end basslines, organic beatscapes and brooding, breathy vocal lines again.
The brainchild of Kazi and producer Nic Murray, LAL became a trio when bassist Ian DeSouza came on board more than a year ago. In truth, their worldly sound is the work of a number of musicians – namely guitarist Nilan Perera, percussionist Santosh Naidu and vibes player Rakesh Tewari. Each musician’s ethnic heritage figures strongly in LAL’s sound, bringing in beats, rhythms and sounds more attuned to world music than North American electronica. Kazi has strong connections to her East Indian culture, Murray to his West Indian roots and DeSouza to his Ugandan heritage. This microcosm of global unity may explain why LAL is embarking on a European tour before they even consider breaking into the U.S.
"We’re more interested in cracking the European scene rather than the States," says Kazi. "We still haven’t really addressed the U.S. yet because, well, we don’t like the U.S. We’ll get there eventually I suppose."
This opinion is a reflection of LAL’s social awareness. Before the release of Warm Belly High Power, Kazi and Murray attended antiwar rallies (a demonstration of LAL’s leftist concerns of environmental destruction, homelessness and war). Their political consciousness is apparent in their music, but Kazi is quick to point out that they aren’t dogmatic.
"Our mandate for LAL is to communicate our concerns about social justice issues and things like the environment," she says. "Especially on our last album, we’re heavily dedicated to the environment, but when I write tunes I naturally hide it in the poetry. We keep in mind that we can’t hit people over the head. You can’t scream at someone to change." |
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