k15: liminality
Francisco Espregueira
The London producer Kieron Ifill, aka, K15, has always found sublime ways to connect house, jazz, broken beat and more introspective hi-fi electronic music. His productions often balance rhythmic detail with a strong melodic sensibility, drawing on a musical background that stretches from jazz and soul to jungle and UK garage. Following his recent collaboration with Detroit producer Kyle Hall on Wild Oats, he returns to his own Esencia imprint with Liminality. The three-track EP takes its name from that uncertain space between one stage of life and another. It’s a fitting idea for a record that moves between different moods without settling in one place.
“A Gift, Not A Given” opens with a playful sense of movement, its shifting rhythms and melodic touches revealing themselves gradually. The title track takes a more meditative route, allowing the groove to unfold at its own pace, while “Dissolve” closes things with softer tones and a feeling of release. K15 works through small adjustments in rhythm, harmony and atmosphere, giving each composition its own character. It’s an approach that has become central to his work on Esencia, from earlier releases like Rituals and State Of Play to this latest outing. Available on vinyl, this is listening room material.