Bruce Loko - I Open at the Close (2021)

Bruce Loko follows up his standout Devil's Cry EP with a first full-length album on Get Physical Music. ‘I Open At The Close’ is a 12-track trip into Loko's authentic take on Afro house.

South African Bruce Loko is a man with many loves and influences, from visual arts and crafts to architectural technology, jazz music, and piano playing. He has released on quality labels like Atjazz Record Company and, of course, on Get Physical. He has become one of his country's finest house pioneers thanks to his artfully crafted sounds and unique DJ sets. This new album finds him collaborating with a wealth of fine talents, all of whom help to enrich the overall sound.

The scene-setting title track opens the album in stunning style. Deeply spiritual chords and vocals from Msimisi immediately set an absorbing atmosphere before Biishop guests on superb electronic lullaby 'Suffer.' Loko and Sebee connect on 'Lonely Mountain,' a mid-tempo, heavyweight house track with majestic synth and percussion. Superb solo cut 'God's Window II' is an expansive, cosmic groove with smeared synths and dark drum tension and 'After Hours' twist and turns in late-night fashion with more spine-tingling vocals from Biishop.

The wonderful 'Myoho' and 'Pyramind of Giza' find Loko in solo mode. The former layers up rich pads and silky drums with his trademark sense of soul taking you on an emotional ride. The latter is a chunky broken beat affair with spaced-out pad work that gets you dreaming. Sandy Artwell is the guest on 'Falcons,' a track that fizzes with late-night energy as the taught synths and popping melodies ride over a tense groove. As the name implies, 'Astral Projection' shoots for the stars, its broad, brooding pads bringing scale to the minimal house drums. Excellent new single, 'Devil's Cry' is a testament to Loko's unique ability to imbue his synths with real pain and vulnerability, and after 'Kundalini' with Sandy Artwell fills the heart and mind with subtle house optimism, 'Golden Snitch' ends this most fantastic album with eight epic minutes of textural synth tension and bubbling drum work.

‘I Open At The Close’ is a landmark album for both Bruce Loko and Get Physical.