DEEWEE 012: Laila – The Other Me / Pink Tones

The twelfth release on DEEWEE was the first and only release by Laila on the Dewaeles’ label. The 12″ came out on March 25, 2016 and contains ‘The Other Me’ and ‘Pink Tones’ on the A-side, with a DEEWEE DUB of ‘The Other Me’ on the flip side.

Here’s some info from the press release:

Born to Italian/Moroccan parents, Laila Sakini was raised in the forest areas of outer Melbourne, Australia, later moving to the inner-city, and then to London. After years of involvement in dance music culture and DJing, she turns inward, exploring club sounds via personal melodic-based electronic music. She also speaks fluent Chinese. Written between Melbourne and London, polished at DEEWEE, Belgium.

There’s not a lot of additional information to be found, nor why she didn’t release more music on DEEWEE.

Here’s a review from Resident Advisor:

Laila’s debut is Deewee’s most pop-friendly record yet, preceded by bits of synthy krautrock, new beat-tinted electro and house music from Brazil. The label’s other stab at electronic pop, Emmanuelle’s snotty Free Hifi Internet, was its most endearing release, but The Other Me / Pink Tones, swaddled in reverb and techno chords, strikes a mature tone with its glossy sheen and romantic anxieties.

Both songs stem from the same idea but are approached from slightly different angles. Laila is more surefooted on “The Other Me,” her milky vocal present but faded at the edges, sometimes ghost-like. A cushioned 4/4 gives the track a billowing outline, as its innards throb softly. Delicate vocal harmonies and teardrop idiophones drift over each other on “Pink Tones,” but its unyielding pulse does these gentle fragments few favours.

Both songs address a lover, Laila’s words smeared in doubt and longing, and the music feels clouded in the same way. It gives Laila an air of mystery on “The Other Me,” but she’s almost invisible on “Pink Tones,” concealed by soggy reverb that lingers like too much perfume.


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