Fugues by Kogumaza

Fugues is the third full length album from Nottingham’s Kogumaza.

Ambitious in both scope and arrangement, Fugues sees Kogumaza stretch the traditional rock album template to breaking point, with a determination to create large ensemble compositions whilst working within the confines of the bands core trio.

The album was meticulously created over a period of four years, at locations ranging from DIY practice spaces and bedrooms through to final mixing and mastering on the Isle of Lewis overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Building upon themes of memory loss and dyschronometria, (the inability to keep track of time), the drawn-out period of composition and recording, together with its use of extended playing techniques, multiple guitar overdubs and constant experimentation resulted in the band experiencing their own fugue state.

Akin to the opening scenes of the 1984 film Paris, Texas, Fugues is the soundtrack to being lost in the wilderness under an unrelenting sun, surrendering to the hallucinations which form as mirages upon an infinite horizon. Whilst heavy and often overwhelming, this is mesmerising listening, striking an expert balance between hypnotic repetition and thematic evolution.

Fugues physical release is presented as a double clear-vinyl LP, spread over four continuous suites of music and released in March 2019 to mark the 10th anniversary of the band. The striking front cover image is the work of Scottie Wilson (6 June 1888 – 1972), born Louis Freeman, a Scottish ‘outsider’ artist known for his highly-detailed style. He didn't start his artistic career until the age of 44:

"I’m listening to classical music one day – Mendelssohn – when all of a sudden I dipped the bulldog pen into a bottle of ink and started drawing – doodling I suppose you’d call it – on the cardboard table top. I don’t know why. I just did. In a couple of days – I worked almost ceaselessly – the whole of the table top was covered with little faces and designs. The pen seemed to make me draw, and them images, the faces and designs just flowed out. I couldn’t stop – I’ve never stopped since that day"

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