Review: Soma by .gif

.gif’s debut EP, Saudade, was a minimalist delight… and then there was little. Now, the Singaporean electronica duo return with a full-length record, Soma, and in it they push their boundaries out. Their songs now take on a hint of darkness and cynicism, themes evident in both the lyrics and the production, reminiscent of Portishead, somewhat. As with their previous record, there’s a push and pull between the members: the production from Din, the singing (feeling a little more anguished now) from Weish; but the explorations they take this time around give much more heft to the record, resulting in something that’s a bit playful, a bit suspenseful, and, well, far more exciting than I expected. [NB] | 4/5

“If I walk far enough, maybe I would find…”

“Good Night, Green Light” by .gif | “What a cute name,” I thought, when early this year Lush 99.5 had Singaporean artist Weish as their artist of the month. (You’d agree if you see this video of her being interviewed by a dog.) She’s half, alongside production guy Din, of trip-hop duo .gif (as in the file extension), whose sounds are deep and entrancing and dirty without being fuzzy. I’ve been thinking this blog entry through for a few days now: we’ll be on a week-long break, while I fly (again) to Singapore for a day job training thing, so I have to write about an artist from perhaps my favorite country (that I have been to, and there are only a few). Good timing, as they are performing on the Singapore leg of the Laneway Festival this January, so, yeah, why not them? They’re quite good anyway. If you scored tickets, go see them. Otherwise, head to their Bandcamp page, where you can download the Saudade EP (where this song came from) and their single “Juvenile” on a pay-as-you-may basis. As for me, I’ll see you in a week or so. [NB]