Review: Little Dragon - 'Lover Chanting'

Little Dragon's latest novella of electro-pop perfection, Lover Chanting, is the ideal prelude for what we’re hoping is an impending full catalogue of much of the same.

Little Dragon’s latest novella of electro-pop perfection, Lover Chanting, is the ideal prelude for what we’re hoping is an impending full catalogue of much of the same. It’s impossible to listen to this EP without feeling uplifted and chipper which in this current musical climate, Little Dragon’s craft comes as a breath of fresh air. That’s not to say that Lover Chanting lacks in any depth, the musical production takes care of this ensuring each melodic chant is wrapped up in a succession of assorted drum beats and percussion bites, held together by an ambient electronic thread. Throughout, there is a healthy suggestion of bass, especially 'In My House', which also plays out a decent drum riff (almost like a digital bongo) which is then coupled with a mellow chillwave vibe, it's vocal-heavy but shows off Little Dragon’s production skills and mid-song there’s a palatable vocal break which leads to the interesting choice of a really long fade out. Delightful 'Timothy' and this will transport you back to the 80’s when the R'n'B funk era was dominated by sulty vocals carried by a breeze of space disco, and a weird whistling, which actually works. Final track which is the edited version of 'Lover Chanting' is slightly punchier and has predominantly more bass than the rest of the album, it’s weightier than its diplomatic (explicit) brother and you have the bass and breakbeats to thank for that, it’s actually extremely catchy. This EP will undoubtedly leave you wanting more from Little Dragon. It’s less electro than their previous work and more dance pop but we’re ok with that, the main thing is that this little nugget is a welcome distraction from the impending winter blues and the unavoidable musical undercurrent of Christmas classics which will engulf our receptors come December, actually who am I kidding, it’s already started!