Marco Luka’s Insomnia

WRITTEN BY A.A.V.

I by no means consider myself a music connoisseur; my taste in music varies on the day or fixed mood. I tend to listen to the same artists and albums due to routine preference. Thus, when I was given the opportunity to listen and write my thoughts about an artist I hadn’t heard from, I pushed aside all biases and spent a comfortable amount with the project. And it’s safe for me to say I’m a new fan.

The artist in question is Marco Luka from the techno-lo-fi pop group Weston Estate. Having released his own tracks independently from his group such as “Paradise” and “Protect,” Marco Luka’s newest EP, INSOMNIA, is a cocktail mix of dreamyness and alternative R&B. What adds to the dreamyness is Luka’s effortless and gasping vocals in songs such as “Old” and “Rush.” Him naming his project Insomnia has the opposite effect on me as I can drift listening to his entire playlist unbothered. My ease of sleep contradicts Luka’s sleepless nights working on INSOMNIA all through the early hours of the morning. 

Luka stated, “INSOMNIA is a project I first started when I was 17, comprising tracks conceived from a restless mind. I’ve reimagined and remade the project countless times over the last six years, but the name has always stuck with me — it captures the emotions and processes that have stayed with me since I first began writing songs alone in my room. Although I’ve reproduced a lot of these tracks several times, I’ve kept them fairly skeletal and intimate, even keeping vocal takes and whisperings from 6 a.m. nights of years past.” 

“Company” fits more of his vocals' dreamy aesthetic and has the distinct bedroom-core style of music that’s been steadily growing popular. Besides his soft airy vocals, Luka is able to sharpen his voice for more mature tracks like “Nevermore.” The bass and heavy mechanical-like background noise don’t cloud out his stellar vocals and deepen the song’s color to an ashen color. “Aire,” Luka’s only Spanish song, was a pleasant treat for me to hear as I tend to listen to English-speaking artists and have neglected to listen to my mother tongue from time to time.

INSOMNIA as a whole is a deep, introspective album made by a talented young artist, who was likely sleep-deprived, but his passion for music pushed him to release his EP. And to anyone reading this, please don’t sleep on INSOMNIA because, like Luka’s vocals, it’ll creep into your dreams and won’t let you have a good night’s sleep.