Sensational indie jams, slick guitar playing and soulful grooves – summer-night saxophone and a generally impressive fusion of excitement and colourful calm. Ununk delivers the goods in strong supply, with an instrumental playlist designed to both uplift and entertain audiences, as well as show off some incredibly handy-seeming musicianship at the helm.
As an introduction to ununk, Back In The Day is spectacular, an ever-evolving instrumental soundscape, noting hints of funk, jazz, soul rock and even lo-fi keys, alongside a soaring drumline that’s equally eclectic.
This post-four-minute composition is euphoric at its peak, and promises a sense of energising, awakening wonder that’s both playful and seamlessly precise. The music is timeless, nostalgic but also unpredictable in its originality, and this helps makes Back in The Day an instrumental must-hear this month.
Creative composition is crucial with this kind of music, not merely a soundscape letting the mood settle, but something uniquely experimental, and also impressive and satisfying. We get a rollercoaster of emotions throughout, and even with a variety of genres to play with, ununk continues to utilise that kind of artistry.
Consider Berserker, a much heavier guitar instrumental, a metal track with a few distinct riffs and flavours that help inject a kind of intensity and depth that’s entirely different to the former track.
Then in stark contrast once again, ununk presents an ethereal EDM realm of poetic imagery and self-reflection. Echoes of Tomorrow is a fierce and fast-paced drum and bass track, with delicate vocals countering the pace and power of the arrangement in a gripping way. It’s like dreamy but intense escapism and sound-design, modern tools have made it but something nostalgic also connects at its core.
Taking things down an all the more versatile and unexpected pathway is the track Belle. Suddenly we’re in the smoky backstreet bars of a European town, gypsy jazz and swing creating a catchy, danceable vibe that begs for you to grab a partner. It’s smooth and sultry but upbeat, stacked high with keys, horns, hi-hats, and vocal fragments, and all at once energising and dainty.
The ununk creative repertoire is one of familiar framing now, unconfined by unplugged abilities or genre constraints – the contemporary production arena has allowed for any and all artistic ambitions to be recognised, and this continues throughout one of the most uninhibited catalogues to cross our path in recent months.
The neo-classical Valkyrie, in example, presents a multi-string arrangement, appearing as organic and chaotic, impassioned and powerful, spacious and honest, born of the same electronic tools that effectively now blur the lines between genres, styles, and intentions.
Finally, to reinforce the freedom and playful optimism of ununk, Bamboo Forest Breeze redirects us towards the oriental East, with a mellow pace and delicate, acoustic tones laying down an ambient foundation of warmth, intimacy, and hopeful natural connection. The divine nature of these wind and stringed instruments offers an equally sublime melody, and this track is perhaps one of the most subtle but moving of all, from an elusive and focused, ambitious ununk.
