Watch an exclusive video of You Took Your Time and Blue Train Lines – one of the year’s best collaborations – performed live in Paris last month
- TextTom Connick
Marking their return from a four year absence, Mount Kimbie’s Love What Survives was one of 2017’s standout LPs. A grizzled, punk-tinged dive into an expressive new mindset, it took the methodically-arranged electronics of 2010’s Crooks And Lovers and 2013’s Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, and added new texture to the duo’s palette through collaborations with the likes of Micachu and James Blake and a freer, less obsessive attitude to creation.
“We’re always trying to be in a space where we – somewhat – don’t know what we’re doing,” admits the band’s Kai Campos of their newfound tendency to slacken the shackles on their music. “I was finding myself frustrated with making music in a more calculated way. It was a different space – I felt like I was learning on the job, which feels like the most interesting thing to be doing, really.”
At the heart of Love What Survives is Blue Train Lines, a link-up with longtime friend and confidante King Krule that thrives off that ‘as it comes’ mindset. A propulsive cut of post-punk energy, it captured the spirit of Mount Kimbie’s reinvention and the frustration of King Krule’s own well-documented creative roadblocks, as Archy Marshall roared above an evermore clattering backdrop of rhythmic percussion.
Mount Kimbie and King Krule have shared ideas for years, with Marshall previously appearing on Cold Spring Fault Less Youth's You Took Your Time. Since that first collaboration, they've swapped memos and snippets of new music near-constantly. “He sent me a late-night voice memo of him shouting over [Blue Train Lines], which… didn’t sound that great!” he laughs, “but that’s Archy’s vision. He’s often got different opinions and views on music to me, in general. It’s really interesting, and for someone so young, he’s got a wise head on his shoulders when it comes to creating stuff. Sometimes talking to Archy is all I need to feel pumped up for a few weeks.”
Sobering him up and polishing his take up ever-so-slightly in the studio resulted in one of the year’s most visceral performances – one that came alive on a Parisian stage just last month, as Archy’s tour for The OOZ overlapped with Mount Kimbie’s own European run. “It’s incredible – it completely changed the whole complexion of the performance,” says Kai. “Archy’s such a strong presence and individual, that it transcends what we’re doing – it becomes something bigger.”
Check out Mount Kimbie and King Krule’s live performance of You Took Your Time and Blue Train Lines below:
Love What Survives is out now on Warp Records.
