Joseph Deenmamode, aka Mo Kolours, doesn't follow a singular path. It's not in his musical DNA. A hybrid artist, Kolours has released numerous EPs and his self-titled debut calibrated his ideas into some spaced-out funk, hip-hop and dub, encased in an electronic gloss.
'Texture Like Sun' is a continuation of those disparate sounds, but where there was synergy between tracks on 'Kolours', 'Sun' is street-level hypothesising, disconnected and tripped out. Songs are interspersed with broken record skits, and voice notes from the colourful characters that juxtapose the metropolis that is London and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, two sides of Deenmamode's identity.
The majority of cuts on 'Texture Like Sun' follow a similar trajectory, sparse and short, spoken-word poetry the preferred method of expression rather than rhyme and rhythm. 'Find Out What You Want' features Kolours repeating the aforementioned line through echoes and distorted vocals, hypnotising the listener into musing their own destiny. In fact, these skits and tracks that barely exceed the one minute mark, make up more than half of 'Sun', and every individual one is as wild as the last. 'Sign' rides a James Blake fuzzed-out bassline, creative and visceral in its make-up, the frustrating part is that it could have been a playable track on its own, if it wasn't for its diminutive duration. It's as if Kolours doesn't want you to truly get lost in his music, disengaging the listener as soon as they build a connection with it.
It's a complex – at times suffocating – listen, the lengthy duration of the LP serving as a tapestry or "cycle" of Kolours' experiences. Some of the appeal lies in the politically conscious lyrics and the innovative ways these messages permeate the listener. 'Harvest' is the most hip-hop leaning song, Kolours berating mass systems and their treatment of the disadvantaged. These are not "standing from the roof-top declarations of identity" begging to be heard, but soft-spoken ruminations more akin to a stream of consciousness than a linear narrative. Kolours revels when he is light and his 'high by the beach' persona creates a whimsical feel to tracks like 'Keep Cool', which serves up some Lee Perry electronic funk, the result subtle and impressive.
'Texture Like Sun' is an ambitious record, and Mo Kolours interpretation of avant-garde heterogeneous soul is admirable. If Deenmamode tempers his idiosyncrasies just a little, allowing his music to breathe better, the results can be even more profound.
6/10
Words: Shahzaib Hussain
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