Leila

Leila

Like Weather (remastered Edition)

Modern Love

When you make a record that doesn’t conform, expect to divide opinion. ‘Like Weather’ was released in 1998, on Rephlex - run by Grant Wilson Claridge and Richard D James - an often great label that had the misfortune of having a following made up of mostly aphex- logo wearing fanboys who couldn’t quite deal with electronic music made by a girl - let alone one that used vocals. Everything those lads couldn’t fathom about ‘Like Weather’ is essentially what makes it untouchable; one of the greatest, most effortlessly esoteric, no-fucks-given pop albums ever made, not in the lineage of IDM (Pitchfork) or Trip Hop (FACT), but something else that cant quite be categorised - even 22 years later. ‘Like Weather’ echoes the world-building energy of Prince’s ‘Sign O The Times’ - every track is a self contained universe all its own, there are no rules or conventions - it’s full of hooks, but also insular as fuck, the production is all over the place and it still sounds like nothing else (although if you’re into the Mica Levi-produced Tirzah album, know that this here is the blueprint). It feels analog, then digital - it’s R&B, but also baroque music box, drone pop, experimental, electronic, junglist - attempting to define it is like trying to cup mercury in the palm of your hands; it’ll just find something else to slide into. In 2020 we reckon it’s time to re-appraise ‘Like Weather’ as one of the great “lost” albums of our...