VENOLOGY
South London’s kaleidoscopic gem Venna graces us with an elegant sonic journey bound to touch the mind, body and soul, blessing us with his debut project ‘VENOLOGY’.
Venna is a true ‘vessel through music’, with the evocative sound-smith effortlessly weaving his way throughout infinite sonic dimensions, as he guides us along the whole journey of the multi-faceted musician’s seemingly every-growing hand in instrumental discipline; having come to cast a spell over his audience with that soothing charm he posses as a decade long saxophonist, transcending through sonic structures that dissolve into one another, leaving any listener in awe.
Coming to no surprise the Grammy Award winner *yes, you heard right*, brings us nothing but the later mentioned: an utterly mind, body and soul numbing experience that should proudly sit at the top of any music-aficionado’s listing. VENOLOGY is one of the purest musical experience I have crossed, one that I’d say sits comfortably at the table right beside Greentea Peng’s and the Seng Seng Family’s 432hz tuned ‘Man Made’ from a stance in composure and production. Some things can’t exactly be conveyed through words, you just feel it, and VENOLOGY is one of those things.
Straight off the bat, Venna doesn’t miss a beat, guiding us into this journey with the mind-blowing ‘Aroma’, as he takes us into a choppy indigenous percussive pattern, laying the soul-touching foundation that’s abundant throughout, all before having us reach inwards, hitting things off with that silky sax, bringing our awareness to the fore-front. A truly compelling number to initiate this debut project, that left us savouring the ‘Aroma’ that eventually dissipates, until South Kilburn’s and Venna’s lyrical go-to Knucks steps in with that effortlessly cool demeanour, wrapped up in that soothing cadence on ‘Standard’.
‘Standard’ is just well… standard for these two - I mean you really thought these two could possibly miss with this link-up? You’re mad if so. This one here is just insane; those sharp string riffs and plucks etching throughout, atop the hugging pads within the ether - just the picture-perfect foundation for Knucks to absolutely shine. You couldn’t possibly speak bad about this one, nothing but cap if that were the case.
Ensuing the following four-minutes as you float along ‘Avenue B’, Venna breaks things down in ‘Sun, Moon & Herbs’; injecting a punchy sequence of percussion, and bringing an infectious spout of spirited energy that’s undeniably paralleled by the euphoric vocals courtesy of JVCK JAMES, as he weaves throughout those saxophone riffs until the descending sign off into ‘The Last Poets’ ineffable woodwind sequence that would leave Kamasi Washington proud.
If you ask me though, tracks five and six are where Venna really leaves you at a loss for words. ’The Last Poets’ just baffles me. Musically I’m not even too sure what’s going on due to the multitude of layers, but it just had me sat there taking it all in, solely focused, as I was presented with possibly one of the most touching sonic experiences to date. As I stated before the jazz-flecked gods to come before would certainly approve.
Signing this one off though, Venna wraps up this breathtaking journey with the feel-good ‘June’s Cry’, seeing the South Londoner source talent through vocal virtuosos emil, JADA and JVCK JAMES one last time. ‘June’s Cry’ has you floating on cloud-nine till the final breath, presenting itself as one of the stand-out offerings in my opinion; with those heaven-sent harmonies layered by the talented trio, offering us a positively-chilling display and nothing shy of true bliss.
Venna knows he’s an ‘old soul’, and it’s more than evident within the timeless sounds he curates, stating; ‘the music I make is very mature, it’s not necessarily what my generation would go for if that makes sense’. Although, I think that’s the greater side to Venna’s vision; opening up a potential generation to a divine discipline of sound that’s given little to no attention by our youth today - and honestly, I wouldn’t even be too surprised if Venna were to be the musician to fore-front that potential renaissance - starting here with VENOLOGY.