Here is another album that solidifies my belief that Jazz and the multifaceted scene surrounding it is the single most groundbreaking and innovative music style of our times. Everything that people assume to be the cutting edge, be it Dance, Grime, Rap, EDM or whatever all sound fairly generic to my ears, I rarely hear things that do not rigidly sound like something already created. Jazz, on the other hand, is positively boiling over with groundbreaking musical cross pollinations and progressive mash ups. And among the players to be found cooking away in the engine room of these hybrids there are visionary musicians enviously furnished with talent. I mention jazz because one of the two primary players in LIUN & The Science Fiction Band is Wanja Slavin and one of his major instruments is the saxophone and yes, it does indeed sound very jazzy at times on this album. But after that familiar musical reference point, things get very blurry indeed.

Wanja built the band as an open and inclusive vehicle for the music he makes with vocalist Lucia Cadotsch. She is also something of a maverick, piercingly vibrant as a singer, Lucia is impossible to pigeonhole but then nobody should be looking to do that, the excitement in the music this band makes is all in the unpredictability of it, not to mention the unrestricted license they grant themselves to go anywhere sonically. They themselves describe the musical landscape as “a phantasmagorical world that mirrors our contemporary state as an absurd, but wonderful combination of natural and virtual elements.” Well, I can confirm that the overload effect on your ears and mind when listening is quite dizzying but, as with all the best things in music, a few plays reveal a tapestry of thrills constructed by artisans.

Progressive is a word that springs to mind a lot when listening to ‘Lily Of The Nile’ and if I can make one retro-fitting comparison to the past, it is that the interweaving of classical and orchestral styles is executed with eloquence, by hands that can command the language of melodic passages transcribed to harps, trumpets, flutes and trombones with the same confidence classic Prog Rock groups displayed fifty years ago. There are flashes of this in ‘Let’s Make Love’ but as the tempo builds the kamikaze piano soloing is pure jazz, absolutely flying with expression. Holding it together is the human ingredient of Cadotsch’s voice and the key, warm and lustful simple message of the suggestion in the songs title. ‘F***in’ Comp’ highlights her range of tonality too, leading a piece that again sails through pumping grooves, seductive flutes and a saxophone break underpinned by piano and synths. What I love is that these break downs do not let the songs drift, they are densely packed with vital movements before the groove returns and we spin off anew.

You have simply got to listen to this album, then listen again and listen some more. It is the sound of now, the noise of all life around us rolled up into a heavy-tumbling audio cannonball. In a world where the simple act of just focusing on one thing without distraction is a challenge, an environment seemingly intent on quick gratification and short attention spans, here is an album that represents that chaos whilst simultaneously existing in defiance of it. The actuality of a record so wonderfully carved into being, sitting out there humbly below the radar waiting for people to chance upon it is enough to give me great hope and anticipation for the future of music in general, with artists as impossibly brilliant as LIUN & The Science Fiction Band making albums things are never going to be that hopeless, are they? This is simply incredible.

Buy a copy of the album here: https://www.discogs.com/release/25014124-LIUN-The-Science-Fiction-Band-Lucia-Cadotsch-Wanja-Slavin-Lily-of-the-Nile