Little Dragon ‘Nabuma Rubberband’

Words by Sean Walsh

Although experts on Chinese zodiacs will claim that this is the year of the horse, 2014 is the year of the dragon. Little Dragon to be exact.

Sweden’s Little Dragon has further exemplified that they will continue to gradually build their control of the music scene, with the release of their fourth studio album, which I apparently love to misspell, Nabuma Rubberband. The album was recorded in their “home studio,” and offers some of their most accessible work to date. Opposed to what some other bloggers are saying about this record, I think this is their “breakout album” (of course, only if you don’t already consider Machine Dreams, or Ritual Union to be breakout albums).

Why? Well, with Little Dragon’s rising success, they are becoming a favorite amongst those booking the year’s festival lineups. Their past albums have catered to a more beautifully abstract take on rhythmic progression and vocal explorations, while Nabuma Rubberband brings a more focused, sophisticated, soulful, and explorative approach to their newest collection of sonic adventures.

When ‘Klapp Klapp’ was released as the album’s ultimate preview, fans like myself were left thirsting for more. Its electro-charged energy and foot-stomp-inducing beats will have both indie kids and candy ravers dancing right next to each other in PLUR-fect unison. Although some may say this release is “safer” I happen to think that it’s one of their “braver” releases, as they look to expand their fan base and open up another wave of new potential fans’ ears, to the energetically- magnificent sounds that are Little Dragon.

Songs like ‘Paris’, ‘Pink Cloud’, and ‘Let Go’ are destined to hook fans of all different backgrounds while a song like ‘Killing Me’ could almost convince a listener’s ear, at the beginning, that they could be listening to a riff likened to the tastes of arena-rock superstars, Muse.

It’s superbly impressive to see and hear how many different colors, shapes, and patterns this collective seems to continuously camouflage themselves into. I am a fan of the wonderfully-unique, the abstractly-beautiful, and the ever-evolving forms of musical products that emerge as bands mature…luckily for us, Little Dragon proves again, like a fine wine, that they only get better with time.