The great city of Detroit has once again blessed us all with another musical gem. KiLO is an artist I was wholly unfamiliar with until I had the pleasure of seeing him play live earlier this year. It’s always exciting to see a new name in your city, so I went in blind. Lordy, I was unprepared. During a night filled with the sounds of house music and ambient techno, KiLO’s set hit me like a ton of bricks. The dials on the crowd’s swag meter turned all the way up, and suddenly the room was bursting with hype for KiLO’s heart-pounding 808s and cathartic dubs. “What a superb display of crowd play… and from a complete stranger,” I thought. Later that night, digging through his SoundCloud page, I fell in love with his collection of sultry flips like this MF DOOM tribute. Needless to say, I was impressed.
Fast-forward to today and KiLO has hit a milestone with the release of his first EP titled Intro. Given the set I heard that fateful night, I can honestly say that I expected something completely different from this release. The thuggin’ 808s and trap blends are out, but blissful, dreamy sine waves are back on the menu. I don’t mean that in a bad way, either. KiLO’s adaptability shines on this EP from the moment the first track, ‘Ourobourous’, begins. A whole two-plus minutes of downtempo, cinematic synths build up as if they were the beginning of a symphony movement, culminating in a fleeting moment of silence that gives way to the rest of the EP. Call it the intro to Intro, if you will. ‘Breathe’ and ‘Aether’ follow in a very natural-sounding progression. Nothing is rushed here and every instrument is meticulously mixed and mastered. Another Detroit-based musician, LowKey, snags a feature on ‘Soda’ and hits listeners with some killer lyrical work. The crux of the album, for me, is the final track, ‘Music.’ I’ve always been a sucker for breakbeats, drum and bass, and things that generally go fast, so it was a nice surprise to hear the end of the album pick up the pace a bit. Despite the tempo change, the transition feels seamless. Well done, mate.
This EP certainly isn’t the last we’ll hear of KiLO. Be sure to check him out if you happen to be around the Great Lakes and see his name pop up. For those readers further away, you can still listen to Intro below. Remember to go support those names you might’ve never seen on flyers before, folks, because sometimes you might just find yourself floored like I did.
