Live Review: Kult Kyss get euphoric on 'EKKO'

Melbourne duo KULT KYSS (made up of producer HAXX and vocalist RROMARIN, who’s also established herself as a go-to vocal feature, working previously with GOLDEN FEATURES, THE PRESETS and LUCIANBLOMKAMP) have been remarkably consistent since their 2016 debut.

The duo’s carefully considered retirement of their previous DEJA moniker and their subsequent rebirth as Kult Kyss has resonated throughout their entrance into the otherwise crowded field of Australian electronica with a string of impactful, fully-formed singles that they’re now adding to with their seventh release, ‘EKKO’. First premiered live on ABC’s The Set the other week, ‘EKKO’ finds the rising stars of Australian electronica further carving out a space in the scene for their ritualistic future-pop whilst also pushing out into more purely euphoric sonic territory.

Part of what’s so fascinating and transfixing in this unable-to-look-away manner about Kult Kyss’ music is the mixture of sophistication and a sort of simplicity - if you will - at play throughout. There’s an interplay between the artifice of their future-pop aesthetics and the organics of fundamentally good dance music, a middle ground that they somehow manage to locate with every track thus far. So while their presentation bubbles with this latex, otherworldly feel that reaches for the intellectual, their brand of dance music, in the repetitive structuring of their tracks and the group-style, mantra vocals burrows down to something more visceral and primordial within. It’s simplicity with a hell of a lot of thought behind it. The result is a hypnotic dynamic which the Melbourne duo have been steadily refining across this initial run of incredibly impressive singles - and they pull it off again here on ‘EKKO’.

The primordial or tribal aspect of their music is not lost on a group who self-describe their art as “ritual noise”, with vocalist Rromarin explaining that: “In creating ‘EKKO’ we wanted to capture the magic of human connectivity and shared freedom, and the result is our most upbeat and vivid work to date. The song is designed to convey the spirit of a human collective, which we explored through the use of chanting group vocals, euphoric synth lines and a driving backbeat to act as the heart of the track”.

Photo by Only Odd (Joseph Crackett) for Purple Sneakers

Words by KYLE FENSOM

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