Laconic summer vibes ooze from the speakers during ‘Can You See It? (Intro)’. It sets the scene perfectly. This is going to be a laidback, hazy affair full of sonorous horns, deep bass and rising vocals. And for the most part Getting Late is this.
‘Past Tense’ is a real contender for song of the summer, with its catchy melodies, drumming piano and wonky basslines. The song really comes alive during the outro. As everything builds and sways you are blown away by how grandiose and breath-taking it is. The fact that Yakul are able to deliver something this polished so early on in their career is incredible. Then it dawns on you that this is the band’s full proper release. Before now they’ve only released singles and tracks, their first release coming in 2017, but on Getting Late it all clicks and their early promise starts to make sense and feel justified. ‘Daydreaming’ follows this formula, but on the title track Yakul mix things up a bit by having rapper Louis VI spit a few bars. His inclusion works incredibly well as it adds another layer of texture to the EP that was hitherto hinted at. The fact that he’s brilliant is neither here nor there; he is, but it’s not about him, it’s about the track.
Getting Late lives up to its name. All the tracks have a glorious late night haze to them. As the EP meanders and snakes through Neo-Soul, Hip-Hop and Jazz you get slowly drawn into a sleazy world of love, loss and redemption. While at times it sounds too much like a pastiche of Thundercat than a cohesive band, Yakul have shown a progression from their early singles. Musically they are using a wider palate and this makes the songs larger in vision and sound. The intro of ‘Past Tense’ doesn’t sound like the band who wrote ‘Jamaican Dutch’.
The self released Getting Late EP is out now.
