Depending on where you’re from Luo can refer to the string of ethnic groups across Kenya and Tanzania, or the Chinese verb meaning ‘to arrange’. If you’re from the UK, Luo is the hypnotic and electronically fuelled side of jazz and math.
It’s a slightly onomatopoeic term, the sound one makes at the point they are drawn into the dreamy, ethereal workings of the group. You start off digging what you hear, and you go to make a general comment about the musical arrangement, the dynamics, the textures: ‘I really lo-‘…and then it hits. Everything comes together. ‘…ooooh’, you swoon. You’re locked in. You experienced the ‘lu-ooooh’. I have no hard facts proving this as the true etymology of the band name, just the 9.3% beer beside me and my imagination. But’s it’s probably true for some of you, if not no one.
Anyway, you know em, you love em. So without fürher ado, here is some lovely live Lu-oooh tunes featuring Luo performing as a two piece in an outdoor venue in Brighton. with some projections Luo will be playing a string of shows across the Queen’s England during October. Things will kick off in Manchester at the epic annual Carefully Planned Festival, where they will take the Musical Mathematics stage. A Brighton launch party will take place on the 21st, followed by stops in Derby, Leeds and Canterbury. Get your ears to one of these shows for a cerebral and slightly sensual experience.
Luo’s full length debut ‘Sleep Spindles’ is due out on the 21st via Small Pond. You can keep up to date with Luo on Facebook.