Like a Gun

‘Like A Gun,’ originally self-released digitally in 2019, marked the beginning of Laila Sakini's solo work. It precedes her four critically acclaimed solo albums: ‘Vivienne,’ ‘Into the Traffic,’ ‘Under The Moonlight,’ ‘Princess Diana of Wales,’ and ‘Paloma’; her collaborative LPs ‘Cupo’ and ‘Figures’; and a string of EPs: ‘Strada,’ ‘What I Got,’ ‘Blip in the Bungalow,’ and the cassette-only series ‘Mystery Messages.’

Now remastered, these two solo pieces of ambience and deftly arranged instrument-voice interplay will be available on a special limited edition 7-inch vinyl released by Futura Resistenza. The original cover art, by Sophie Gemmill, will also return, with a limited number of copies featuring a new/alternate painting by Gemmill.

A space is found within a mix of DIY instrumentation, science fiction rumination, and the melancholic exotica of possible pasts.

The eponymous opener, ‘Like a Gun,’ pushes and pulls between moments of pure darkness and crystal-clear dreamlike vision: stoic guitar plucks, gentle organ and synth washes are set against a subtle abrasiveness and hum.

‘Life out Here is Changing,’ formed by layers of treated guitar that take centre stage, offers refuge for Sakini’s whispers, delivering an indecipherable yet tonally sombre message. Evoking a place spacious yet secretive, it understatedly exposes a tale of fatalism, memory, and “that gross feeling when reality hits.”