Following the release of his lucid pop masterpiece ilp. in 2013, British experimental pop musician Kwes. (Kwesi Sey) seemed to retreat from the spotlight, but he remained highly active behind the scenes, contributing heavily to Solange's A Seat at the Table and Kelela's Take Me Apart, in addition to work with Nao, Hudson Mohawke, DELS, and many others. Songs for Midi is his first solo release since ilp. (and its companion remix EP ilpix), and it's easily his most abstract work to date, doing away with vocals (other than a few brief shreds) and focusing on fluid, shifting textures. It's hard to tell if he's using modular synths, plug-ins, or a hybrid of digital and analog synthesizers. There's somewhat of a canned, tinny sound to it, and the EP's title fools the listener into thinking that it was composed entirely using MIDI. However, the release is actually dedicated to Sey's two-year-old niece Midori, whose nickname is Midi. With this in mind, the music takes on a playful, childlike quality, making up its own guidelines and exploring the world rather than playing by rules that it hasn't come to understand yet. Not to say that a professional musician like Sey has no understanding of the rules of music-making, but here he disregards conventions and paints with the spirit of a youth untethered by logic, yet maintaining the precision of a seasoned artist. On pieces like "99flake," melodies form into clouds before dripping like raindrops. Beats make momentary appearances, with "Trike" developing a twitchy IDM pulse not far from late-'90s Mike Paradinas, while "Blox/Connor" is faster, glitchier, and closer to footwork, at least before the strings swoop in during its second part. It's impossible to tell if Kwes. will continue exploring this direction on future releases, but Songs for Midi is easily some of the strangest, most awe-inspiring work the visionary producer has created. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

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