Late-night Bandcamp trawls are often far more frustrating than they are productive, but every once in a while you stumble across something so wonderful you instantly forget the hours spent listening to terrible, bedroom-recorded parodies. Herbs by Once Kingdom was one of those discoveries that almost made me pinch myself at the sheer quality of what I was listening to. Self-described as “a collection of sounds stitched together”, this new EP from the Swedish producer is a patchwork of crisp, organic beats and wonderfully inventive soundscapes.
If Cringe is the intriguing introduction then Torn Maps is the full-on, broad-shouldered statement of intent. A delicate, repeated guitar line holds it all together while a sumptuous vocal sample spirals in and around hand-clap percussion and playful beats. It’s simply stunning. So perfectly balanced, so high in quality. And that quality remains throughout; Mostly and Urban Center are slow crawls through inventive noise-samples and electric guitar lines, while A Loan is a weird and wonderfully inventive electronic journey. Quite honestly though, this is a record to get completely lost in, so go and do just that. Astonishingly good.
Herbs is available on a pay-what-you-want basis via Bandcamp. We suggest giving him a little something in return for his efforts.
Written by Tom Johnson
