Kordan

The Longing 

 1. Dawn
2. Shinjuku
3. Fantasy Nation
4. Tokyo Tears
5. Colours
6. Closer
7. Dream
8. Mirror
9. Hologram
10. Ghost
11. Dawn (Redux)

The Longing is essentially an elaboration of Fantasy Nation, Kordan’s first EP released July of last year.  Same bag of tricks, that is.  Dizzy, spacious sound layers over a steady beat—at the core, dance grooves with an experimentalist complex.  Where Fantasy Nation tapped the club vein, Longing searches for the abstract quality of pop music.  Listening to the album is like listening as a musician attempts to define city or love or life simply in audio.  Of course, this reads pretentious, as does any creative adventure that involves conceptual thought.  The reason I’m not harder on Kordan is simple:  despite the possible pretense, I can’t imagine the band playing any other style of music than this ultra stylized pretty.  There’s truth in purposeful cool, even if it’s easy to spot the GWBs (Girls With Bangs) and BWGs (Boys With Glasses) somewhere in the crowd.

Thanks to production magic or magic hands, “Fantasy Nation” and “Tokyo Tears” softened a bit from their EP debut:  flavors steeped, mechanics fine tuned, less thrust more lust.  Actually, compared to Longing, Fantasy Nation sounds decidedly reduced, as though Eisele and co. were practicing for grander occasions.  Such is the occasion.  Besides “Fantasy” and “Tokyo,” tracks like “Mirror” and the haunting “Shinjuku” stand out while in sum, the album remains fairly amorphous.  Eisele’s distant vocals amidst the instrumental mixed bag keep Longing interesting, but I wonder what’s next for Kordan.  Logically, the progression favors total ethereal bliss (as it is, the lyrics seem secondary), but I accept all bets.  

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