Kiiōtō

Black Salt - Kiiōtō: Album Review

Vevna Forrow

Below is one song, “Zero Gravity,” one of my faves that appears on Kiiōtō’s new second album, Black Salt. Kiiōtō consists of Mercury Prize-nominated singer/songwriter Lou Rhodes (formerly of Lamb) and Swiss-Guyanese, award-winning songwriter and pianist Rohan Heath. The new album, released on April 17th, is comprised of 10 songs, jazz-focused. A few other tracks that I liked are: “Moth,” “Butterfly,” “Walking Backwards,” “White Noise,” and “Five Eight.” According to Kiiōtō, "Zero Gravity” was inspired by Samantha Harvey’s award-winning novel Orbital.

Black Salt encompasses it all: love, loss, growth, technology, heritage, and societal reflection. What Kiiōtō excels at is producing songs with immensely meaningful lyrics and heartfelt experiences, challenges, and emotions spurring from the fundamental aspects of life. If you’re not a fan of soft, soothing, and soulful jazz songs, slower-paced, piano-emphasized music, then of course your rating wouldn’t match mine at all; you’d probably give it a way lower score, a 1 or 2. It comes down at times to personal preference, etc. Akin to poetry, uplifting jazz music, neo soul, and piano-driven songs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

And of course, I get the joke question a lot, “Do you like jazz music, Jazz?” since that’s my shortened name I go by outside of my pen name (Vevna Forrow). Yes, I do like jazz music, but I don’t listen to classical music or jazz music a ton (not as much anymore) despite having grown up playing various classical, band instruments, the violin, trombone, etc. Predominantly rock and electronic is churning through my headphones nowadays. My fam has actually loved dream pop and soulful jazz-pop channels in the past few months quite a bit, though. Not necessarily jazz artists, but I’ve lately listened a bit to Active Child, Tori Amos, and Jordan Rakei.

Some may say till this day that slow jazz music is quite boring and sleeper music, but I disagree. I think smooth jazz cafes and clubs are cool, by the way. Like all genres of music, a lot of work goes into it. I love the snare and drum kicks that songs like “Moth” have, and you can hear the intricacies of each song. Lou’s voice shines in each song on the album alongside a wide array of instruments, we have congas, double bass, guitar, and more from guest appearance artists. As I stated in another review, I do like listening to softer songs late at night, especially when dealing with physical pain; it’s just calming.

I must say I do really love the Oliver Night remixed version of “Moth” below that has a bit more propeller momentum within it. Not all songs sound great when remixed or accelerated, but this one does. I do wonder what the other songs of Black Salt would sound like if they were remixed like this:

I think it’d be interesting to see Kiiōtō tackle much darker-toned and grungier trip-hop-infused jazz songs in the future with Lou’s voice, not necessarily remixes or all sped-up versions of their songs, but a little bit faster-paced tempo across the board rhythm-wise. I know Lamb has disbanded—I’ve been a longtime fan of Lamb’s songs, particularly “Moonshine,” “Gabriel,” “Illumina,” and “Trans Fatty Acid.” There’s something about those songs that takes you to another haunting gravitational plane entirely. Although being a Kiiōtō fan, I must be honest and say I don’t get that feeling fully with Black Salt's songs, which is reflected in my rating at the end. New bands, projects, and directions are always fun to see come to life, though, and I look forward to their next releases.

Additionally, there are songs within albums that you sometimes do or don’t connect with or relate to, e.g., “Little Axe,” covering a real-world issue till today—how young men, or those exposed to neighborhood city violence, gangs, etc., at a young age, are at risk and have tough childhoods, which in turn directly impact their adult choices and future. “Lost Map,” although it is not my favorite song on the album, has some of my favorite lyrics: “and both of us, oblivious to stones that marked the way,” and a lot of human beings do look back or retrace their roots, ancestry much further, and it can be a very eye-opening journey. I was thinking about “It's A Man's Man's Man's World” by James Brown and “A Woman in a Man’s World” by Chaka Khan when listening to “Warpaint”—it’s great how the album emphasizes the challenges till this very day women face, not just men as well. Although I love the reel visual that was made for “Warpaint,” it falls in line with “Little Axe,” and “Lost Map” not being my faves on the album, great messages within the lyrics across the board, but I was hoping for a bit more energy. I love to be surprised and to hear or discover Easter eggs in songs; the album feels like it is lacking this a little bit in this department, but I really do enjoy listening to it overall.

Would I say that the Black Salt album is stronger than the As Dust We Rise album? In my opinion, yes, I have far more faves on the Black Salt album. But I’d recommend you give As Dust We Rise a listen if you haven’t yet. My faves on that one are “Josephine Street,” “Here Comes the Flood,” “Ammonite,” and “Painkiller.”

The Black Salt album, no doubt, itself is a butterfly of flight, full of graceful composition, and encompasses not just Lou and Rohan’s experiences but also takes into account what others go through in time. Give it a listen when you can.

Memorable Lyrics from “Lost Map:”

"Was it something I said

Brought the avalanche to fall?

The lost map in our heads"

RATING: 3.8 OUT OF 5

Remember to add songs from Black Salt to your playlist(s) and take a look at Kiiōtō's music out on these channels or your preferred streaming platform, find them @we_are_kiioto on Instagram and elsewhere.