Voka Gentle – ‘Domestic Bliss’ album review: Exploring spectrums of sound
From the opening notes of Voka Gentle’s latest avant-garde indie album, Domestic Bliss, it is evident that the trio is obsessed with the possibilities of sound.
The Skinny: Each member of Voka Gentle – identical twin sisters Ellie and Imogen Mason, and William J Stokes, Imogen’s husband – comes from their own musical background: Ellie is the in-house engineer at Mute Records and a session musician (Paolo Nutini, Badly Drawn Boy, etc); Imogen has her solo project, sm^sher, and is pursuing an MA in Sound Art; and William writes about and produces music, and is getting a music-related PhD at City University.
It is clear, then, that music is intrinsic to each of their lives: not just the mere making of it, but the dissection of how it is made, and how it can be furthered.
Voka Gentle began as a folk trio, a surprising note given the twists and turns that their sound has taken since then. It is sincerely difficult to define where Voka Gentle fall on the spectrum, not intentionally so, but rather, they are certainly not concerned with being labelled. They craft songs that can stand on their own, with unique worlds woven into each song that comprises Domestic Bliss.
The opening track, ‘Cheddar Man,’ takes its name from the oldest near-complete human skeleton found in Great Britain, functioning as a question of history’s place in modernity, and where one’s sanity fits into it all. ‘Creon I’ shifts into a blistering electronica, like a dystopian march. “I can do what I want (Is this still what I want?)”, the song wonders.
These musings make for an entrancing tapestry, but Domestic Bliss is strongest when Voka Gentle go full-throttle, letting their strangest concoctions shine through with reckless abandon. With this energy, the songs they produce resemble film scores, like the aptly-titled ‘Battle Sequence (I’m Atomic)’, which blares with an industrial-pop force reminiscent of Boy Harsher. ‘The Creature’ produces dizzying piano melodies that lean into the theatrical, quickly transitioning from one mood to the next.
Still, Voka Gentle finds power in their softer moments, as well. ‘You Deserve It!’ mourns someone that they cannot control, declaring, “I’m holding out for you / I’m here on my own.” The soft, menacing crawl of the melodies on ‘Kinema’ are some of the most enticing on the album, harnessing a strength in their simplicity. The quiet synths on ‘Jude Law For Vogue (1995)’ contemplate the many forms of worship one can partake in. Voka Gentle uses their songs, then, to answer questions surrounding authority and control, over oneself and others, fluctuating in tone to address a deeper meaning.
The Verdict: The versatility heard across Domestic Bliss makes for a small lack of cohesion, but not necessarily at a fault. The songs go beyond confines of genre to become sheer forms of expression and, while the energies on Domestic Bliss may fluctuate, a genuine love of crafting a song into its own entity remains at the core of the album.
Standout Track: ‘Creon I’
Release Date: February 6, 2026 | Producers: Voka Gentle | Label: state51
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