Loki Patera is a solo musical project fronted by Bastian Doney, a multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Denver, Colorado. Butterfly Guts is a four-song EP that combines electronic music and folk. Patera mentions “This EP embodies a human's relationship to the world around itself. It's a collection of songs about growing up and trying to figure out what you are in this life - not necessarily being able to - and learning to come to terms with that.”
“I Don't Want To” is the first song and begins with just vocals and guitar. The song could have been just this and been good. There’s a distinct mechanical sounding beat, arpeggiated synths, The song felt more or like an intro as it builds and stays around the same groove. “Poltergeist” is a more realized song with a lot of meat on it. There’s a lot going on in this song. I was reminded of earlier Animal Collective because of the background vocal harmonies, the Eastern percussion as well as some of the synths he implements. The song is lush and emerges you in a comforting wave of sound. It’s ethereal and otherworldly sounding and I felt like I wanted to meditate after listening to it. The lyrics also capture that feeling when he sings “Every time I float around you I feel my youth fading like the phantom that walks down the hallway / Got caught in a labyrinth but that's just the way it goes.” “Make Sense” doesn't have much of that Eastern quality but still feels otherworldly. The song starts with just guitar and vocals and builds with a lot of layers. I liked the groove on the verse which seamlessly transitions into a cascading and epic sounding chorus. There are multiple things happening vocally which creates a circular pattern of continuous energy that feels positive and life-affirming. “Shylvye” starts off the same way as the previous song with a lone guitar. Similar to the previous song, the song builds with many layers. The vocals are great and perhaps the most memorable. It isn’t too long before we are introduced to a beat. The feeling is serene and hypnotic. There’s an ambient breakdown in the middle of the song. I loved the way it built with more cascading vocals which seem to be one of the artist's strengths. This is the type of release that benefits from active listening and headphones. There's a lot going on in the mixes which you might not notice. I thought these four songs were dynamic and really well produced and written.
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