MR COBRA by Lucy Liyou

For fans of Sean McCann, Uboa, Lingua Ignota, classic soul music, and the type of nightmare that sets you on edge for the entire day, MR COBRA by Lucy Liyou takes an experimental approach to the recognition of trauma, drawing connections between self-conception and abuse through a horrifying, intimate sound. At its emotional climaxes, this record delves into sounds of soul and vocal jazz, opening up to sung ballads and acoustic instrumentation as our speaker comes to terms with the ultimately endless healing process. However, until we get to this point, Lucy Liyou whispers hair-raising prose from right over our shoulders, an eerie atmosphere aided by disembodied jazz riffs and bizarre miscellaneous samples to place us firmly in the vice grip of an initial trauma response. As these aesthetics intertwine and alternate, we see an eternity of reinjury, but ultimately a path opens to a joy more genuine and a self more actualized.