Album Review

Mico – My Tentacles

• 3rd Jul 2012

Upon first listen to the opening strains of this new release from Mico there is an instant comparison to Little Dragon. However as the album plays on it is evident this is not little dragon and Mico has created a sound of her own; not dissimilar to Little Dragon, but also sharing similarities with Bjork and with a heavy emphasis on collage-of-sound style production reminiscent on Nitin Sawhney, whom she has worked with in the past. Mico was recently made “an emerging artist in residence” and this comes as no surprise that the home of the famous meltdown festival (curated this year by Anthony Hegarty, Anthony and the Johnsons) have got their eyes on Mico.

The album continues to be consistently brilliant throughout, every track interesting in its own way, but not too far apart from each other to break up the album as an entity. The stand out track here is “I See A Soul” with its Boards of Canada-esque piano samples and Mico’s voice floating over it, creating an ambience that drags you into the depths of the song to emerge in an almost Cocteau Twins like chorus. Big and beautiful.

“Cruising Forever” is another highlight of the album, with a suppressed electronic bounce to it in odd syncopation that throws you off the time signature, but allows Mico’s brilliant phrasing style to weave throughout the collage of sound behind it. A gently understated accordion plays on in the background.

My Tentacles is a superbly original and beautifully produced work, which draws you further in with each vocal phrase, subtle sample and nuance in production. There are comparisons to be made to the likes of Little Dragon and Bjork, but Mico definitely proves on My Tentacles she can stand alone. We look forward to hearing her work in the future, but until then we’ll have this album on repeat.