Sweden’s Little Dragon rose to prominence on early releases Ritual Union and Machine Dreams, which introduced listeners to singer Yukimi Nagano’s soft, soulful vocals and established the group’s versatile brand of electropop. Those unfamiliar with Little Dragon’s previous releases may nonetheless have already encountered their sound, as the band have provided features on SBTRKT’s ‘Wildfire’, Flying Lotus’ ‘Spontaneous’ and on numerous Gorillaz tracks in recent years. These collaborations made effective use of Nagano’s vocals in their hooks, along with the low basslines and light, textured rhythms which have come to define the band’s style.
From its opening beats until the closing synth fade of ‘Water’ it’s clear that this style is in full force in the band’s latest release, New Me, Same Us. The album wastes little time on introductions, launching immediately into the bass groove of opener ‘Hold On’. Its warbling hook, which sees Nagano’s vocals harmonise in a duet with a gliding synth melody, is perhaps the closest thing the album has to an earworm, as the better part of New Me Same Us takes a decidedly mellower pace. Tracks such as ‘New Fiction’ and ‘Where You Belong’ exemplify this approach in their funk basslines and R&B-infused choruses. ‘Stay Right Here’ meanwhile sees the band at their most sonically adventurous, with Nagano’s voice twittering in distorted loops above an off-kilter drumbeat, layered xylophones and thunderclap samples, each twisting lusciously over and under the other to create a rich, warm soundscape.
The album isn’t without its missteps, such as ‘Are You Feeling Sad’, a track which feels saccharine in its tone, threadbare in its vocals and otherwise at odds with the overall sound of the album. On the other hand, tracks such as ‘Kids’ and ‘Every Rain’ contain interesting elements but are generally too sonically sparse to justify their presence as individual tracks, feeling more like connective tissue than anything in their own right.
Nagano’s lyrics cover a relationship nearing its end from multiple points of view. In ‘Hold On’ the singer pauses a breakup to deliver a few final well-wishes: “Let’s say farewell another million times, hold on / Sun reflects every side of you and better yet / Parts you never knew”. While on ‘Another Lover’ Nagano speaks from the opposite end of this departure, struggling to come to terms with its end: “If I fall into the arms of another / I hope I will discover the truth / I long for you”. Such verses are scattered throughout New Me, Same Us and trace a thin throughline of the album’s overarching concerns of a connection struggling against change.
With their latest release, Little Dragon’s sound feels, if not at their most inventive, then at their most consistent so far. New Me, Same Us feels much more a complete piece than previous releases. The tracks don’t segment so much as glide into each other. Though often lacking the same pioneering charm of earlier efforts, seamless melodies help deliver a cohesive experience which grows with each listen. As a result, while the album may hold less attention-grabbing standouts than their previous efforts, New Me, Same Us nonetheless delivers Little Dragon’s most complete release to date.
Words by Ronan Duff
This article was originally published as part of The Indiependent’s May 2020 charity magazine, which raised money for the British Lung Foundation. Find out more here.