Brighton's Luo drop their fitful first full-length Sleep Spindles

Heat bounced off the walls as it amassed from a crowd that filled the attic room, whilst pulsing lights added visual disorientation to the already mesmerizing performance from the duo. The festival was a heavy weekend by all accounts, but there was a presence in the room that evening felt by all as heads nodded in unison, further fragmenting the light.

A year since the release of their three-track EP Ebb & Flow, today Luo bring us their debut full-length Sleep Spindles.

Headed by sonic-wizard Josh Trinnaman and performing at times as a duo and at others as a full band, Luo are the latest export from the young Brighton-based label and studios Small Pond, who have become a de facto base for the city’s thriving ‘math’ scene, as liquid as that term has become over the years. Indeed, this release is somewhat distinct from its more rock orientate peers, and would also sound at home on leftfield labels such as Ninja Tune, Warp and Project:Mooncircle.

Rhythmically the record can only be described as insane, flittering spasmodically underneath intricate chimes and tampered vocal samples, as in the cutting “Intertwined” and opener and album namesake “Sleep Spindles”. There’s an interesting blend of digital and live sounds throughout, particularly with the percussion, though perhaps most interesting in “Ebb & Flow” or the stunning slow-bounce jam “Under Lock and Key”.

Sleep Spindles is best enjoyed as a whole unit, as each song works together to both perplex and allure its listener.