VELIKA VELIKA – COMING.GOING (2024)
The brainchild of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Davies, VELIKA VELIKA is a blend of grunge, indie-rock and indie-pop with shimmers of lo-fi guitar dancing about the edges. A veteran of the UK YNOT Festival, Davies has gained a reputation for eclectic rock tunes that BBC Radio’s Dean Jackson describes as “hearing at least five different things every time you listen to it.” Inspired by acts like Beck, Metric, Mike Snow and Jack White, Davies’ music has an audacity while looping beneath soothing, smooth sounds. Despite being a known act in the UK independent music scene, this is the first time VELIKA VELIKA has come across our ears. The latest addition to his discography is the single ‘COMING.GOING’.
At the end of 2022, Benjamin Davies found himself all at sea in a musical swamp. It was at this point that he chose to “fend off the wolves of creative dissatisfaction” and embrace an enigmatic solo project. Following his well-received debut track ‘SEES THE SUN’, ‘COMING.GOING’ is Davies’ first release in 2024 entering the new year with a refreshing breath of grungy air. Produced partly at a home studio and partly at JT SOAR Studios, the sophomore single is both sophisticated and raw presenting the elegance of mature production tinged with the grit of vulnerability.
Leaning toward a strong sense of grunge and indie-rock, Davies drags us back to the heyday of indie-rock and grunge. Nostalgic whiffs of Radiohead, Blur and Nirvana rock about in the two-and-a-half-minute melody. Described as “The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ but in reverse…”, listening to ‘COMING.GOING’ is like twirling about in a kaleidoscopic whirlpool gasping for breath but loving the rollercoaster of light and dark, obscurity and comfort, confidence and fragility, and warm richness but harsh melancholy. Davies explains:
“This single is about a person in life who thinks that they are finally something – finally attractive to others – finally noticeable though they really have nothing to offer… ‘COMING.GOING’ is the deluded ego. It’s kind of sex but also stupidly awkward.”
For more from VELIKA VELIKA, check out his Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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