Album Review: KOYO - You Said It

The release of You Said It by KOYO marks the Leeds band’s confident take on experiment with style and genre. Their second album is assertive in its refusal to follow conventions, blending the avant-rock nerve with bright indie-pop tones across eleven eclectic tracks. You Said It echoes lively, prog tunes of the band’s 2017 debut album, but there’s a refreshing sweep to the sonic signatures coming from a dedication to challenge familiar patterns.

You Said It proves that KOYO delight in arraying disparate overtones within the same track. Ostracised sets an aggressive tone and hardcore-infused rhythm in the intro, but these dissolve rapidly in a smooth indie sound of the chorus. The interplay of contrasts prompts a refreshing shift from the accumulating tension to a momentum of its release on yet entirely different register than the song adopted at the outset.

In the second half of the album, Confused and Obelisk push the stylistic experimentation further, letting the guitars and drums interlock in idiosyncratic disarray as the thick layer of sound explodes and slackens unexpectedly. Both tracks open with heavy guitar riffs in the spirit of Rites of Spring and swerve towards more buoyant registers in chorus. Within the constant oscillation between an unease and outbreaks of uplifting indie vibe, Huw Edwards’ soulful vocal proves wide-ranging: his soaring falsetto captivates, but there is also an interesting, moody feel to the tenor emerging from rock-oriented parts of the album.

The album slows down in the final part, veering away from heady tunes to expose more of atmospheric melancholy. Rolling In My Head and Against All Odds are swathed in a dreamy spirit reminiscent of early Silversun Pickups or Grizzly Bear, the heartfelt vocals invoking nostalgia in tandem with throbbing yet moderate bass and drums sections.

You Said It comes forth with imaginatively fitful material, marked by the band’s curiosity for experimentation and mercurial style.

Words: Oliwia Majchrowska