Review: Komla - EP

Komla, from London, UK

This London three piece Komla call themselves “musical chameleons.” At first I had to wonder precisely what is meant by this: are the different colours that they take on with regard to tempo, genre, instrument? Or perhaps the change occurs in their audible tones or tempers?

A listen to their tunes provides an answer, giving conviction that their characteristic shifts take place in the realm of effect; that is, if the chameleon could not only change his own colour, but also the colour of his surroundings, the analogy would be complete. This band moves the listener, and, like that notorious changeable heavenly body, the moon, their shifts have wide-reaching ability to bring about change in others.

Their four-track EP is nothing if not energetic. From the escalator-ride of ‘Never Give Up,’ to the powerful nostalgic ‘That Summer,’ to the movingly reflective ‘Sold Out,’ to the hopeful ‘We Belong,’ every track is uniquely rousing. Cumulatively these tunes give the impression that their originators barely contain a bursting enthusiasm for playing and performing, for writing and recording, for engaging in the often exhausting tasks required for their chosen calling. This exuberance is a welcome divergence from the too-often encountered derision masquerading as superiority.

Komla is full of lyrical rock potential. Watch for the depth and power of this band to only increase in the future.

[This post was published originally at Quenched Music on April 6, 2013.]