Shortly to play a rare one off showcase evening at the Hoxton bar and Grill on April 1st wherein guests Beth and Bassman will be in attendance, Berlin based husband and wife duo UMA are about to delight and captivate all with the arrival of an imminent debuting self titled full length platter from the highly admired Enraptured imprint on June 2nd.
We’ve been treated to a sneak MP3 preview of ‘Calm / Easy’ – a cut from that aforementioned set – alas no links, all hush hush you understand – and a distracting cutie it is to featuring dreamily lazy eyed motifs, the merest electronic applications and scale rising and falling harmonic lilts succulently threaded and filtered through a woozily airless vacuum both playfully and alluringly dappled in heavenly almost hymnal halos all left to hop and shimmer to forge a unique listening love. Which all said sounds to these ears like a passing cosmic visitation taking time out to find a picturesque West Coast spot for a chill out moment to swoon over the more ethereal trimmings from a wealth of Of Montreal et al back catalogues.
Regular readers of these thesis styled monologues will be all to aware of our adoration for the mysterious Manchester duo No Ceremony and just in case you missed a page somewhere along the way they where last featured with much fondness here last missive out. I mention No Ceremony purely and deliberately to introduce UMA whom I dearly suspect may well be up for giving them some much deserved competition in the affection stakes.
Resplendent in clear wax and no doubt ridiculously limited is their EP ‘Drop Your Soul’, this dream inducing slice of silken euphoria features a trio of mesmeric loveliness that opens to the murmuring yearn of ’Drop your Soul’ which features no less a talent than the legendary Simeon of Silver Apples. Magnetic and majestic this orbital opine softly seduces with its monastic chamber drilled frost garlands as though ripped from the grasp of an angelically heavenly songbook to embrace you with a last gasp white room wooziness. There’s also the addition of the same cut re-aligned by Yoshi Horikawa over on the flip – a mellowing trip wiring beauty alluringly sugar dusted in a sophisticated serenade of pulse lowering candle lit romanticism oozing in down tempo detailing and smouldered to a slow fused seduction – quite sinfully elegant if you ask me and a hushed breath away from the nocturnal rapture of Art of Noise’s ’Moments in Love’. ‘Wild at Heart’ beautifully beguiles in an imaging of the stately svelte caress of a playfully smitten chill tipped Cocteau Twins entwined in the softly trod snow steps of Client as though partaking in some hymnal advent draped and demurred to the longing tug of a homely yuletide glow. A bit of quietly consuming treasure all said.
