Ears Wide Open: Umi Copper

Kevin Bronson on July 2nd, 2018

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The heartbreak Umi Copper feels on his debut EP “Requiem” is the kind that renders you weightless, and possibly falling, buffeted around by the dueling forces of helplessness and fury. Those forces come to life in the complex, skittering percussion and the live strings on the EP. Copper has the smooth, pliable voice of a top-notch soul singer, but the atmospherics here take the songs into the future, or outer space.

Zane Lowe and Pharrell Williams were early champions of Copper’s first single, “All,” and ultimately the Long Beach artist’s EP was released June 15 via Black Acre Records. The video for “Cure” is the work of L.A.-based Miko Revereza, known for his work with artists such as Teebs, Matthewdavid and Christina Aguilera. It uses a mixed-media approach, cutting between VHS, Burner camera phone and HD footage. Of the video, Copper says: “A visual art piece depicting a self mirrored distortion against the beautiful yet visceral evolution of pure love ultimately becoming destructive.”

||| Stream: “All”