Siula have released their debut album ‘Night Falls on the World’.
The new album from the Cardiff experimental pop duo of Llion Robertson and Iqra Malik, layers memory, melancholy and resilience into a sonic experience.
To celebrate their new album release, Siula shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Night Falls on the World’.
Overmono – Good Lies
I remember hearing this track for the first time and just been blown away by the beauty of it. It had pretty much everything I try to incorporate into a track and it just felt so effortless (I’m sure they absolutely grafted!). They managed to balance sweet vocal melodies with intricate drum programming and layered sound design really well and somehow manage to be both a bit of dance floor hit and a perfect headphone track which is no mean feat! Love that they’re Welsh too.
Ethel Cain – Crush
Iqra actually introduced me to this track a few years ago and we both just loved the dreamy, lo-fi aesthetic and how deeply personal the lyrics were. The vocal performance is pretty stellar with so much feel and raw emotion and the confessional storytelling really resonated with Iqra. The hazy, nostalgic stripped down production definitely had an influence on me when trying to create a sense of vulnerability and longing.
Burial – Archangel
We’ve both got a pretty deep love for Burial and he’s another producer who makes things feel effortless. His use of vocal samples is always special and there’s nobody who can create am atmosphere quite like Burial. There’s always a sense of loneliness, isolation and lost memory in his tracks and this is certainly something I leant on when producing tracks for ‘Night Falls On The World’. There’s also a big element of imperfection in his productions where things are off grid or out of tune or seem to go on for too long and this creates an otherworldly sound and feel which I’m always trying to achieve.
Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence
This track is a cinematic exploration of a relationship where love and violence co-exist. There’s a real nostalgic atmosphere in this track driven largely by the instrumentation but LDR’s lyrics definitely add to that. Complex emotional themes like vulnerability, obsession or the dark side of love when it comes from a personal place, can have a huge effect on the feel of a track and Iqra was hugely influenced by this approach when we were writing the album and how the lyrics can really can effect the mood and drama of a piece of music.
Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo
It’s incredible to think that this was Joy Orbison’s debut single and it pretty much changed dance music overnight. I really love how few elements are in this track but what he leaves in is pure gold and it really contributes. The chord progressions are pretty euphoric yet kind of somber which is a combination I always seem to go for for some reason and he leaves so much room in the track that everything just breathes beautifully. It takes real confidence to have just 3-4 elements playing in your track and to not hide behind 25 other things.
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