Home by Perera Elsewhere

Love 'em or hate 'em, categories in electronic music can sometimes enlighten. In Sasha Perera's case, her first two albums as Perera Elsewhere (from 2013 and 2017) on LA label Friends of Friends were tagged with the miserable-sounding term Doom Folk. Like Doom Metal, the Doom-part denotes music played on traditional instruments, while the Folk-part indicates lyrical narratives, which, when combined, is actually a fitting description for her music. So is new album Home more Doom Folk? Well, the lyrics continue to tell her story, melody remains subtly catchy and there's still plenty of clever voice treatment. Also, flavours of Perera's bohemian lifestyle (via Berlin, Istanbul, Mumbai) are peppered throughout in her choice of sounds and composition. So the answer is yes.

But the answer is also no.

The acoustic foundation that underpinned her earlier work is all but absent. Pianos, guitars and real drums have largely been replaced by electronically-derived methods; a line of development that can be neatly traced through three instrumentals (one from each album).

Like a studio jam, Bongoloid (from 2013's Everlast LP) uses real bongos to deliver an intimate energy while jazzy show-stealer Girl From Monotronica (from 2017's All Of This LP) combines real trumpet and bass guitar with digital synths. On this latest album, the syncopated vibes on the Der Wurm tracks, while 'jazzy' in nature, are pure studio wizardry. The rest of the album reflects this pattern, with synths, drum loops and layers of digital creation taking higher prominence. Voice manipulation, a long-established technique in Perera's toolbox, is used throughout Home, notably on tracks like Heatwave, where the result sounds like a male vocal (but that's not her rapping on Early is it?).

While not an obvious return to the Trip-Hop sounds of Jahcoozi, the twelve pop-length tracks feature rhythms and sing-along melodies that suggest that Perera is indeed heading 'Home'.