Ayka is the recording name of Norwegian-Turkish artist Ayça Lingaas who describes herself as a “self-taught five chord guitarist singing both greatly and poorly about misery and fun.” I am great believer in the less-is-more philosophy and her new album Doggy Bag is an uncut gem; rough around the edges but totally captivating. A great example of this is the opening track ‘Polysemous’ (def: having multiple meanings) which breezes in on a gently swinging guitar line, a simple beat on toms and snare, and perfectly placed piano, before finishing in a riotous cacophony of voices. I felt it had a wonderful symmetry with some of the early releases on Glasgow’s Postcard Records such as Orange Juice’s ‘In A Nutshell’.
Given the emphasis placed on slick production in so much current chart music it’s a breath of fresh air to listen to something that is unpolished, free from auto-tune, and truly genuine. Ayka’s voice is unadorned by effects and sung close to the mic, and on songs like ‘My Sincerest’, ‘Lovely From Poland’, ‘A Girl Called Destiny’, and ‘Bjørnehiet’ it’s as if she is sitting next to you in the room. The way her voice doubles on ‘My Sincerest’ brings delightful moments when the unison singing diverges to create serpentine harmonies; just exquisite.
But Doggy Bag isn’t just a litany of intimate home recordings there are tracks like ‘Blissfully’ with its boom-ba-boom heartbeat drum pattern which could be a Shirelles song slowed down, and ‘Let Go’ which is upbeat wonky-pop of the highest order, from the bouncing drum part, high-low bass line, a tinkling glockenspiel and a drunken guitar riff all tied together and a hypnotic vocal line.
Anyone who thinks ‘lo-fi’ is an insult would surely re-evaluate their opinion if they listened to Doggy Bag. Ayka is not afraid of scuffing up songs and bringing some controlled cacophony to bear. ‘I Drank Before The Coda’ is like following a happy drunk down the street and the final song, ‘Speed Shanty’ has softly-fuzzed guitar, wobbly recorder, smeared vocals, and the feel of a Velvet Underground song recorded by kids, especially the droning violin at the end.
Doggy Bag has an unhurried, lightly abrasive charm, and it is utterly bewitching.
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Review by Paul F Cook
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