REVIEW: OK EG - GEKO01
Last sighted outside of their native homeland, Australia, during the summer of last year, OK EG delivered a live set at the Monument Festival in Norway with such vibrant energy that it carries into their latest release. This is also the very first release on their own imprint GEKO. What a formidable duo Lauren Squire and Mathew Wilson are, creating and performing together since a decade and going strong.
Entirely danceable (that’s an understatement), GEKO01 (notice the humble amount of zeros before the one) rests at a solid 136-138 BPM and stays true to OK EG’s individual and characteristic sound. Now with their own platform for expression, we can surely look forward to more gems on the horizon.
Side A of GEKO01 begins with no hesitation as the needle touches the vinyl. We deep-dive into Spiral, where we become drawn into its immediate swaying bounce. Remaining playful, the track develops into a consistent polyrhythm momentarily abandoned for deeper drives - just barely long enough to almost forget our dance moves. Not to despair for even a breath - with the energy that OK EG bring, that would be out of the question.
While Surge starts out slightly more minimal with a couple of overlaid beats at first, it soon picks off from where Spiral left off, now in fact surging upwards. The tension rises in parallel with a buildup that OK EG so craftfully create, before again reintroducing those beats. And since we can’t have enough, we receive the sequence a second time because they wouldn’t leave us hanging…or would they?
Fracture initiates Side B to GEKO01 with a more introspective feel, as though we find ourselves at a later stage in the night. Echoes of lasers reverberate in the techno chamber. Leaving room for reflection, we feel a warmth in the melodic and atmospheric notes that emanate from the depths, lasting throughout the second part of the track.
In contrast to Fracture, Monument Stone immediately lays its base with a four-to-the-floor beat. This keeps us aware of time as an element - just as other layers of rhythms emerge, creating the intricacy and intimacy true to OK EG. GEKO01 thus ends on that monumental note (in fact the very same note that resonates throughout the first track) of creating space to transcend time for a moment, in what could be imagined as a mystical forest.
Globally, this EP - the first release for OK EG on their own imprint GEKO, is a sign that their creativity stays strong and true to their essence, hinting at a promise to their community for more to come.