As die hard music nerds, it’s not everyday we hear something that gives us pause. We’re not saying we’ve heard it all, but after a while you can identify the building blocks of people’s influences and you start to see music in general as a massive puzzle with pieces made from genre.
But when Patrick Shiroishi let us hear the new Corima a few weeks back, we have to admit, the words weren’t coming to us the way they usually did – of course the music was immediately likable, but it was like listening to an album made in a parallel dimension. The sound was familiar, but unplaceable in our mind in terms of where we might have heard something like it before.
Turns out, Corima and their new album are part of a longstanding tradition called Zeuhl, which is a genre of music that combines neoclassical, symphonic rock, and prog originally pioneered by the French band MAGMA in the 70’s. But in some ways, HUNAB KU feels like way more than that.
Corima’s latest is far from tribute or study, if anything it feels like the opposite, like something inviting. It has confounding sections and plays with odd-meter, but not in a way that feels overly collegiate. It doesn’t force you to join the party with flash and virtuosity, it’s too considerate – but HUNAB KU‘s melodic arguments are beyond convincing on tracks like “Yok’hah” and “Manla”.
There’s incredible harmony and interplay on display that fans of math rock are sure to enjoy effortlessly, and underneath there’s a sense of genuine soul that’s increasingly difficult to find in modern releases. If tags like 70’s prog and neoclassic symphonic rock generally scare you off, we get it – those words tend to imply heady, incomprehensible themes that aren’t always enjoyable. But Corima’s latest is an incredible time thanks to its borderline punk approach to the genre, where everything feels vital and current, and in our opinion there’s not a skippable moment on it.
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