The Invisible

Video: The Invisible’s “Wings”

The Invisible: RispahThe Invisible: Rispah (Ninja Tune, 6/12/12)

On Tuesday, London-based pop-rock trio The Invisible released its sophomore album, Rispah, which finds guitarist / vocalist Dave Okumu in an existential crisis following the loss of his mother, the album’s namesake. The video for “Wings” contains kaleidoscopic imagery of butterflies trapped in flight, with their glass-jar prison shattering — liberating them —near the end.

The Invisible

Review: The Invisible’s Rispah

The Invisible: RispahThe Invisible: Rispah (Ninja Tune, 6/12/12)

“Protection”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/The_Invisible_Protection.mp3|titles=The Invisible: “Protection”]

The sophomore album from London-based pop-rock trio The Invisible opens with thick, mournful swirls of keyboards intended as a send-off for guitarist/singer Dave Okumu’s deceased mother. Evoking a painful separation at the shore between life and the afterlife, the keyboards give rise to the contrasting buoyance of traditional Kenyan folk singing. Within seconds, Rispah (named after Okumu’s mom) announces itself as a work of rich ambiguity.