London-based electronic project uh aka brother-sister duo Dominic & Fionnuala Kennedy share playful second single ‘jungle parkway’ from new EP ‘pleroma’ 👾 🍀 🐍
An exuberant flashpoint of acid house, trance, UK funky & video game music, from an EP of transcendent electronics exploring Celtic futurism, Gnostic mythology & more
Music with a flow state vitality, spanning rave, breakbeat, ambient, synth-pop & beyond - RIYL Orbital, Laurie Anderson, The Knife, Underworld, dip in the pool, Eris Drew, System 7, Naomie Klaus, ishi vu
uh show their improvisatory flair, eclectic influences & unabashed optimism on 'pleroma'. Across four tracks, [they] blend synth-pop, pastoral rave, trance & breakbeat into a dreamy expression all their own, anchored by Fionnuala’s versatile & expressive vocals. There’s a subtle awkwardness to the overall production, zero guile & much heart' - The Wire
‘Like a rave in a ball-pit hurtling through space’ - DJ Mag
‘If Laurie Anderson, Andrew Weatherall & Vangelis all took an eccie together and, in the process of ego death, had forgotten what defined each person as separate from one another’ - Juno Daily
‘[uh] remind you of the promise that’s implicit in all great music - freedom’ - Electronic Sound
he music of uh - aka brother-sister duo Dominic & Fionnuala Kennedy - is as ecstatic as anything you can imagine. Seasoned savants of London’s experimental electronic music circuit, their wondrous coalescence of rave, pastoralism and futurism has left listeners blissfully stupefied over the years. Forged in the volatile crucible of London’s live circuit, their sound warms and exhilarates in equal measure.
On ‘pleroma’, their new EP for PRAH Recordings, uh live up to their reputation as much as they enrich it, augmenting acid-streaked euphoria with beatific, immersive atmospheres, anchored in ambient, synth-pop and finely tuned breakbeat. uh still make music ‘outside the box’. Much like their earlier ‘Seasick in Salts’ EP (2020) and ‘humanus’ LP (2023) all the tracks on ‘pleroma’ began as hardware jams, resulting in music with a flow state vitality; a rare spur-of-the-moment prowess. Veering fluently between BPMs, on soundscapes teeming with life, uh imbue ‘pleroma’ with the compelling naturalism of an unforgettable live performance.
In the wake of their rhapsodic first single ‘nostos’ - a sprawling, radiant odyssey of anthemic rave, breakbeat & synth-pop - uh now share the EP’s second single ‘jungle parkway’. An exuberant hybrid of acid house, trance, UK funky and video game music - like A Guy Called Gerald making music for Nintendo - the track is named after the duo’s favourite level on the N64 version of Mario Kart. It’s become a firm staple in their live sets, and signifies a cathartic, playful highpoint in their recorded output:
“Honestly, this track has meant a lot to us, especially performed live, it's often provided moments of absence through pure play. So, big love to creative practices and flow states that alleviate the discomfort of being human at times, bringing some bounce back.”
Elsewhere, ‘i ate the light’ differs wildly from ‘nostos’ and ‘jungle parkway’ yet feels in keeping with the EP’s overall tone and scale; a moving, windswept anthem of cybernetic falsettos, stately snares, and sweeping synthesis. uh describe the song as an expansive ballad chronicling a love story, from first meeting to ensuing heartbreak: “i ate the light follows a tragic love to the bitter end, evoking pathos and cosmos in equal measure. And yet it also deals in beginnings, recalling the dazed familiarity you feel when meeting someone special for the first time, like being caught in the moon’s orbit.”
Closing with the delicate denouement of ‘i want my life back’ - a finale evoking a far-flung pop paradise inhabited by the likes of dip in the pool and Naomie Klaus - uh leave us with a seventh heaven missive, dissolving into a state of suspended tranquility.
Each track on ‘pleroma’ builds its own thematic world; the EP can’t be diluted down to a single idea. Its concepts and inspirations are abundant and myriad, exploring ideas of renewal through play, verdant Irish pastoralism, and ancient Gnosticism. The EP is suitably named after an ancient theological concept related to spiritual plenty.
uh say ‘pleroma’ is not just a state of mind, but a real place. With these longform excursions of intuitive electronic music - comprising intricate, fervent assemblages of rave, breakbeat, ambient, synth-pop and more - we’re taken there, transported to a sublime, prismatic space which is willed into existence. On ‘pleroma’, uh are undaunted by change, wiser with experience, and now at home.
uh is the brother / sister duo of Dominic and Fionnuala Kennedy. Born as the fusion of readymade interests, uh unite bedroom hardware jams, video art and spoken word, shaped by a shared intrigue in the pastoral and the preconscious.
After finding their footing in the London DIY scene, they’ve honed a cathartic, entrancing acid-washed sound, touching on their Irish heritage, magical pastoral idylls, and staple styles from breakbeat to broken beat to balladry. 2019's 'Seasick In Salts' and debut LP ‘humanus’ (2023) saw back-to-back releases on PRAH Recordings, and serve as evidence of their ecstatic, heart-on-sleeve signature.
Their live shows are more heart-in-mouth, making ludicrous use of machines abstracted from their original intent. Fionnuala exploits a pitch module, echo, and live looping unit, producing freq-pranged monologues and cantos; Dominic manipulates various Rolands, Doepfers and sequencers, causing thrilling glitches in the system.