There’s something dark coming out of the mystic soundscapes for a sign to give listeners a chance to bring in a sense of hope, a sense of evil, and a sense of what is to come. The transatlantic duo named Kaleida is one of those bands that puts you on the edge, and will keep you guessing for the rest of eternity.
Christina Wood and Cicely Goulder have been around for nearly 12 years. They have described their music as “feminine”, taking aspects of the 1970s feminism and the progressive pop sounds. Once you delve into their latest album simply called In Arms, you’re in for a revengeful roller-coaster ride that embellishes ‘80s new wave, electronic music, and the post-rock, post-punk sounds.
They have released two studio albums (Tear the Roots and Odyssey) and two EP’s (Think and Detune). Not to mention their music being heard in the first John Wick film and TV shows like CSI, Search Party, Atomic Blonde, and the Netflix Original Series Wu Assassins and Monarca.
So, Kaleida have a lot of the hearts and minds they have unleashed when it comes to the music they have brought to the table. Ten tracks in, there’s a lot of what’s going on. You have the dance grooves, trip-hop, The Cure’s Pornography-era, small art house momentum, and Robot Koch’s ominous approach of taking revenge, but hitting them where it hurts on ‘Choices’.
The lyrical lines, “You know what you love / Don’t you give me shit ‘cause I don’t need no pushing down no more / Take your fucking god and tell him teach you how to love” Kaleida wants it all out there, and letting the victims who have been domestically abused, sexually assaulted, or who have been neglected, to stand up and fight back..
Because once they hurt the people who have abused them, they’re going to know, who they don’t want to mess with. And if they do mess with the people they hurt, they’ll be in a wheelchair and eating through a straw for the rest of their lives. Wood and Goulder are fighters. They know how to kick a gigantic amount of asses when it comes to being pushed around.
‘Stranger’ continues where ‘Hollow’ had left off with its conquering arrangements. Not only they pay tribute to Goldfrapp, but the Shout-era of Devo which brings to mind a sombering version of ‘Here to Go’ with its action-packed momentum for Batgirl who had been through the tragic consequences from the Joker during the controversial story of The Killing Joke. Barbara Gordon has proven to herself that she’s not backing down without a fight for what he had done to her many years ago.
Kaleida are quite the opposite when it comes to bringing their synth-pop voyages to their listeners. And they have channeled each of the sonic sounds by capturing the momentum to bring all of the subject issues to the core.
