Review | Album review: The KVB’s dark atmospheres are very much theirs
Ahead of their Hong Kong debut, British duo The KVB reveal more of their distinctive cinematic vision.
Of Desire
Invada Records
As part of their first Asia tour, London’s The KVB will make their Hong Kong debut on October 26 at MOM Livehouse in support of their latest album, Of Desire. Formed in 2010, the prolific darkwave duo of Nicholas Wood and Kat Day follows 2014’s Out of Body EP with their second release on Invada, the label run by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. Self-produced and recorded at Barrow’s studio using his collection of vintage synths, it’s a progression from what started as a shoegaze electronica bedroom project six years ago, but Of Desire is all about dark and brooding atmospheres. With buckets of reverb layered around minimal synth melodies and hypnotic drum machine beats, Wood and Day’s vision is certainly cinematic. While they aren’t shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves (early New Order, Suicide, a little Jesus and Mary Chain), the icy and mechanical rhythms create a sprawling sound that is very much their own. The album’s pacing is a little too steady and this lack of diversity threatens to overpower it, but Of Desire possesses a dark and addictive menace.
