The New LoFi

Kraak & Smaak’s 6th studio album fuses 80s yacht rock with dream pop and electronic funk

The Dutch trio, Kraak & Smaak are known for bending genres together and for transforming their sound from album to album. Back in 2016, they were creating some pretty down-and-dirty electronic music (check out their single “Shiiiit!” for an example of that). Two years later they were creating disco-infused Summer-pop with their single “I’ll Be Loving You.”

With the release of their 6th Studio album, Pleasure Centre, the band have shape-shifted again. The album fuses 80s yacht rock with dream pop and electronic funk. It moves between funky dancefloor focused jams to more relaxed downtempo affairs.

The title single is an instrumental track that kicks the album off. It begins with a minimal percussion track and a reverby piano number that is layered by some 80s future synths and then finally Eastern sounding strings. It builds into something quite cinematic. It’s an overture to what you are about to hear on the album and it’s epic!

The Kraak & Smaak Bandcamp page describes it best saying that: “Pleasure Centre is everything you’d want in an album and everything we’ve come to expect from these dance stalwarts — innovative, relevant, and modern tracks with great production and exciting guest features that are guaranteed to fire up your own pleasure centre!”