REVIEW | monokimono & friends @ Trix, Antwerp: Thumbs and fingers licking (★★★½)
monokimono, Ben Tanghe’s solo project on Saturday evening his collab EP You me for Trix.
His music has been glittering on our horizon for a while now. With his debut EP Chameleon he profiled himself as an indie phenomenon due to his soft sounds and his warm trunk. Although monokimono says goodbye to that path, because Ben pulls out for a danceable path where electronics and pop go hand in hand. The first achievement of this was his collab ep You me, which will be released in the fall of 2021. The record should have been presented in Trix in early December, but the pandemic put a stop to that. Saturday 9 April it was finally time: monokimono & friends put up for Trix.
The evening was a showcase of making everything monokimono during her residence had worked on in Trix. Dressed in eccentric bones and surrounded by one of light bars, the enthusiastic Ben and his two-piece band on stage. With the unreleased tracks Skin to Skin and Ghost she founded the new, electronic world of monokimono for. Dark and danceable at the same time, he made us long for more.
The show’s title already gave it away: monokimono hadn’t just come to Trix. Wanting all the agendas to be thrown together to connect the artists of the collab ep. The scoop was reserved for Willem Ardui (blackwave.). Together a beautiful version of Free fall with them, the audience hears something recognizable for the first time. That was received with enthusiasm. Also the new sparks reshape the sturdier, electronic way that project wants to make.
Met High on you issued puntjudith, that is the project of the Amsterdam Judith Rijsenbrij, and also Ben’s love on stage. It provided one of the highlights of the set and was sealed with a heartfelt kiss on stage. The Dutch Vic Willems also went down to play the delicious title track together with Ben You me to bring. Met ice creams monokimono returned to his first EP, all this one completely different in the new guise the band had envisioned. Delicious indeed!
Met Instant Sun the band headed toward the end of the set. The song, which Ben wrote together with Frankie Fame, is made for the summer days. It was without a doubt the case of the show, with virtually no one standing still. But then the surprise is yet to come. Because monokimono, as the penultimate song, brought a true techno spectacle that would make Paul Kalkbrenner jealous. It is a surprise that would be welcomed on a festival meadow.
The valve was provided for Signal, a song Ben wrote with Ruben Lefever of Float Falls. It was the end of a beautiful showcase that the project will stand for. Leaving aside a few technical errors and slow changes, it was an electronic spectacle to die for. Festival bookers hurry, because a new star is on the way.