It feels hard to believe in 2020 that
Mica Levi has only just released her debut solo album. When I saw the story breaking, I went and looked through my records, hard drive and Discogs, to see if what I was reading was true. Remarkably it was. ‘Ruff Dog’ is Levi’s debut solo release.
Everything you need to know about the album is laid out in the opening two tracks. ‘Ruff Dog’ is a 30-second instrumental of an eerie dog howling. Think the Hound of the Baskervilles played by a Corgi and you’re on the right track. This is followed by ‘Kind of Strange’. Opening with a barrage of feedback and distorted vocals it sounds like everything and nothing Levi has released to date. It’s claustrophobic yet caring. Wading through the sonic fug it sounds there are drums, guitars, electric and acoustic, and vocals all coated with an obsidian syrup. It gets everywhere and it hard make out what is underneath it.