Sundara Karma - Kill Me

“There’s so much going on,” says Oscar Pollock of the songs here - the Sundara Karma frontman is not wrong. Teaming up with Clarence Clarity, it might be the producer’s stellar work on Rina Sawayama’s debut that’s caught most ears, but it’s the co-conspirator’s solo material that’s very much seeped through onto the Reading outfit. But, where Clarence’s cut’n’paste odysseys often defied any convention whatsoever, Sundara’s knack for a hook, and love of a big chorus is what keeps ‘Kill Me’ from descending into total chaos. On one hand, there’s the relatively straightforward title track; the other, the effects-laden ‘O Stranger’ which, without context wouldn’t be identifiable as the group at all. Best, though, is the sprawling ‘Lifelines’, with all the bombast of an ‘80s film soundtrack, but enough of a pop nous to stay on track.