EP Review: Porij - 'Outlines'
Genre-spanning Manchester four-piece Porij return with their new EP Outlines.
Video game synth melodies soundtrack the materialisation of our new artificial environment as our avatars gestate in a virtual waiting room, soon to find themselves in a club emblazoned with the neon entrance sign ‘Porij’. At least, that’s one interpretation of the soundscape that Porij’s new EP 'Outlines' projects to its listeners on the opening of track ‘Lose Our Minds’ - the white loading bay before the initialisation of our programme. The programme, if you were wondering, is an open air dance floor and as lead singer and front-person Eggy informs us in the eponymous song of the EP, we will be taken “dancing when the time is right”. Porij have created music to make every bone and muscle of their ever-growing fan base move in a coalescing throng. This slick dancefloor tracklist moves with a technological efficiency, the electronic instrumentation fluttering and propelling while the high vocals slide smoothly in conjunction.
Porij, as far from the wintery grey oatmeal as the errant spelling of their moniker suggests, is a colourful sponge of creativity, soaking up different inspirations and leaking out a cohesive and inventive pop. Drummer Nathan Carroll has said, “Porij feels like a big creative melting pot, where you can put your hat in the ring and suggest an idea,” he says. “It’s a beautiful space to exist in.” Bassist James Middleton’s interest in UKG and jungle to guitarist Jacob Mcguire’s fascination with producing electronic beats are heavy influences on the creative output. Porij are intimately connected to the process of inspiration through to creation, asking themselves questions like, “how do you make dance music as a band? How do you make pop songs that reference club culture? We want to reference all of our favourite dance music genres in a way that works right and doesn’t seem shoehorned.”.
As they explore ways of answering these questions, Porij are holding off on making a debut album, instead experimenting with a variety of different styles before reigning in their feelers to focus on a more refined and consolidated collection. “I have an idea of what the album is going to sound like at the moment, but equally, I don't want to shut anything off,” Eggy observes. “With your debut album, you want it to be as pure a voice as possible…”. However, as a band that have not yet released a full length LP, the Manchester four-piece certainly seem to be hitting their stride on upcoming EP ‘Outlines’ out September 7th. Porij have accomplished what they set out to do, crafting a danceable catchy alt-pop that tingles in your joints, fusing the sound of the club with indie alt-pop in a “creative melting pot”. Having recently supported Metronomy in a string of live shows, Porij are set to tour the UK this September culminating in London’s iconic Heaven nightclub wielding their futuristic shifting beats and intangible hooks to great effect.
Words by Daniel Badger
