Five years after the release of Kwes.’ debut album Ilp, he’s back and releases Songs For Midi. Even though his solo release output has not been ever present since the release of Ilp, it certainly does not mean he hasn’t been busy. He’s been writing, producing and playing with a whole host of artists, including Bobby Womack, NAO, Solange, and Loyle Carner and mixed label mate Kelela’s debut album Take Me Apart. The EP marks a desire to get back to making music for himself with a freedom and almost painterly looseness to his sounds and composition, showing a producer just enjoying himself. It demonstrates how kwes. has matured musically in the past half a decade, rather than be influenced by other musicians and producers he takes note from people, places and instances that surround him. Songs for Midi, even though mature in its sound, maintains that consequential childlike element upon which kwes. has built his repertoire. The EP is an ode to his two year old niece Midi; it’s an opus about childhood discoveries and the excitement a child feels in the ordinary and mundanity of everyday life, an uplifting comment on the effervescence of youth. Midi also designed the cover with a little help from Uncle Kwes. Perhaps the youngest ever designer in Warp’s near three decade history! Each track on the EP builds upon sounds including the gentle tick tock on Blox/Connor to the flourishing extensive synthlines and crescendos on Midori which call to mind the fragility of Arthur Russell’s World of Echo.
