Little Dragon
Constant Surprises

Cover art for Constant Surprises by Little Dragon Description: 7" on Peacefrog
Format: 7" (vinyl)
Genre(s): Jazz / Improv
Label: Peacefrog
Price:
£4.49
Availability: Sold out / currently unavailable. Sorry!

4Rating: 4
...according to our on 28 February 2008.

Little Dragon :'Constant Surprises' (Peacefrog) This is without doubt my favourite single to be released this week. Great swinging percussive beat, warm rhodes like keys and a great american style R'N'B voicing. An edited version of the track that appears on the album, this is the sort of pop I don't mind hearing on the radio in a car or blasting out of a neigbours window. Both sides exude a confidence that comes from a focus on getting every detail right.

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What their label says...

‘Constant Surprises’ is the second single to be lifted from Little Dragon’s self-titled debut. Immediately hooky and incorporating a crunching thrust, this perfectly showcases a band that are out on their own, making unique and fresh sounding soul that seems to have all but disappeared of late. The hip hop stomp forms a crooked finger that leads you further into the tune, where we find hi-hats, bubbling bass, a low level hum of organ alongside operatic vocal snatches. All this and we haven’t even mentioned the delicious centrepiece vocal performance of Yukimi Nagano that glides atop this glorious tune. No wonder Gilles Peterson had invited the band in for a session even before the album had been released last summer.
Almost the direct opposite to the lead track is the slowly unfurling B-side ‘Scribbled Paper’ – a combination of drifting percussion and electronic dynamics. Firmly cemented by the loose-limbed, practically horizontal jazz brushes of Erik Bodin and the double bass of Fredrick Källgren, Yukimi unfolds another stunning performance, her vocals seem to not only tug on heartstrings, but grab them and run away with them. Hakan Wirenstrand’s elegant, swirling keys at the tail end of the tune elevate the song even higher.

A. Constant Surprises (Radio Edit)       B. Scribbled Paper