By Daniel SylvesterLeila Arab has always handled high-pressure situations well. Before the Iranian-born, London, UK-based artist released a single full-length, she was programming live music for Björk while signed to Aphex Twin's label. A year after reuniting with Iceland's number one export, working on her polarizing Biophilia album, Leila releases U&I. After collaborating with her sister, Roya Arab, and Tricky cohort Martina Topley-Bird as guest vocalists, Leila has teamed up with Berlin musician and the Knife collaborator Mt. Sims for her fourth LP. Over 13 pulse-and-pause tracks, Leila keeps the blueprint simple, expertly utilizing a singular method to craft each track. The icy synth of "Eight" and the black hail noise of "Interlace" sandwich the fluffy vibe of the Sims-helmed "(Disappointed Cloud) Anyway," showing Leila more interested in the mood of each song than its BPM. As resourceful as Leila sounds on the pop-minded "Forasmuch" and slow-burner "In Motion Slow," Mt. Sims demonstrates how ethereal and rubbery vocals can completely absorb a song's sound, as demonstrated by the robotic "Welcome to Your Life" and the barely there sigh of the title track. It's fascinating to see just how many tricks Leila has up her sleeve on U&I ― well, actually, just 13. Thirteen singular ideas fleshed out to their fullest potential.
Can you talk a bit about your upbringing? Basically, I was born in Iran, but I went to school here before the revolution. But once the revolution happened, we had to leave, so we moved to England and I've basically lived in England since then. That's kind of the basics of my upbringing.
How did you get involved with electronic music? It's a really curious thing, the idea of electronic music. The fact is I use electronics to make music, but I've always said that my loyalty is to music, not to a genre. One of the really good things about the kind of strange, live trajectory I've had is you kind of learn quickly that, ultimately, you don't belong to anything and that kind of frees you to do whatever you want. The truth is, I do adore synthesis, that end of electronics, but more than anything, with the equipment, you can make any music. That's what I find quite exciting. The thing that I despair about is the idea that somehow we are like a real band; people imagine it's real, but the truth is that they probably spent more expensive technology fixing their music than me or my friends do.
True, but the artists you've collaborated with mostly make music that would be described as electronic. Are you drawn to other people who make music in the same manner you do or are these just people that you've come in contact with? To be honest with you, as a human being, I'm literally lazy, so it's just who I've come across. Except for, funnily enough, Matt [Mt. Sims]; I met him one of the few times I bothered to leave my house. I've always been kind of lucky, where the things that have come into my life are pretty amazing. But whom do you mean, "The people I work with"?
Well, you've worked with Björk, Martina Topley-Bird and Mt. Sims. I would qualify these people as musicians that work on electronic music. The irony there is that on Björk's last record there were a lot of handmade instruments, fucking weird instruments. That's what made most of that record. I guess they were MIDI, but they were actually not electronic at all. And Martina, her records aren't very electronic. And Matt, yeah, his music is very electronic, but the most important thing when I'm making music is being more about the sound. Like some of the music I make, it's not like I listen to it; I don't know anyone who listens to their music after they've made it. But when I make music, it's really about honouring where it wants to go, like a certain song or sound. I guess, in that way, it is sort of electronic.
Speaking of the last Björk album, I know you've spoken about just how much work went into the making of that album. Were you surprised that it was mostly ignored once it was released? What do you mean? You're saying that the album was ignored?
I would say that it was mostly ignored. Yeah, but do you know why? There was something curious there ― the apps were really kind of the focus of that record. But, yeah, it's a curious one, but what I think happened was that Björk, as a person, is 100-percent with everything, as a mother, as an artist, as a person. Because I think that people think that she has 70 P.A.s that she just tells, "Go make me some apps," but she's really hands-on. But what I think what happened with the record was with the three years spent designing the apps, the reality of the record was slightly forgotten, because if you look at it from the gig reaction and the app reaction, it was phenomenal.
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