Album Review: Nokuit - Fragments of Memories EP

Nokuit is an Italian born artist who has now settled down in London. He has released his first EP Fragments of Memories last week via Cascade Records.

The EP opens on "Goodbye" - quite a peculiar title to open anything. "Goodbye" is characterized by deep piano notes and light chords. It embodies some kind of melancholy and an aspiration towards a fresh start.

Fragments of Memory is said to have been inspired by memories, nostalgia and love converging in an "old and vapourous London". Truth be told, William Blake's poem "London" came up to my mind, as I first listened to "Goodbye". Those lines resonate with the music:

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

The "mind-forg'd manacles" being these steady aquatic beats that go along the dockers' work on the Thames banks.

"No more" is a jazz and glitch infused track. It seems to depict an assembly line as the beats are steady and repetitive. It's deeply mundane and holds a feeling of tiredness. Yet there is always a kind of Silver Lining in Nokuit's music, that is very similar to Shigeto. The foggy industrial London atmosphere in Nokuit echoes Shigeto's desolate yet hopeful Detroit.

The rest of the EP follows that vibe, subtly mixing dark glitchy beats to light organic elements. It's a constance balance between melancholy, nostalgia and hope. "The Way She Moves" encompasses that general feeling. It's mechanic and moving, while "Miss Your Eyes" adds some deconstructed vocals which guides the listeners towards a sunnier path. The glass-breaking beats evokes Ta-Ku's Song to Break Up To, and the track is just the calm (soothing piano) after the storm.

"Distant days + Outro" closes the record on a backward insight to childhood. Distant child's voices melt with a fading lullaby, that blends into a deep piano melody. As the outro makes its path, the deconstructed lullaby prevails again. Sign that the dream escape has come to an end...