Lokki is the solo project of Drew MacFarlane. Borrowing the name from Scandinavian mythology, Lokki’s debut EP (‘Cirrhi’ in 2018) features stripped-back, piano-forward tracks, blending haunting melodies with ethereal harmonies. Singles “I Catch You” and “Breathe a Breathe of Me” offered a spellbinding contrast to MacFarlane’s work as a member of internationally acclaimed Glass Animals (guitar, keys).

Lokki draws inspiration from the classical and folk traditions of MacFarlane’s youth; a native of Virginia, he studied composition and choral music at Cambridge University. Lokki’s soundscapes arrive as waves, highlighting hushed vocals melting into intricate strings, melancholy piano and guitar arrangements splintering and falling apart. After a mammoth 2022 in which Glass Animals selling out shows across the globe and topping the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks on end with ‘Heat Waves’, 2023 has seen Macfarlane able to focus on Lokki. Early in the year, ‘Breathe A Breath Of Me’ was chosen by The Royal Foundation to soundtrack the launch video for Kate Middleton’s Centre For Early Childhood, and Macfarlane also performed the track live at BAFTA as part of the launch.

In Summer 2023, Lokki returns with “What You Do To Me.” Four new tracks frame an exploration of human vulnerability and connection, playing with the boundaries of songwriting, sonics, and composition. “Music is visual for me,” notes Lokki, who characterizes this sophomore EP as more expansive and fun. “What You Do To Me” is a cinematic orchestra of intimacy, revealing the symbolic realities we construct when inside a relationship: dependency, infatuation, discord/dissonance, and (finally) reflection/moving on. “The you in my head can be more real than the you that is in front of me,” Lokki admits; “because the you in my head stays with me wherever I go.”

Press for Lokki

‘Breathe A Breath Of Me’ is a gorgeous, choir-backed track helmed by soft piano and hushed vocals that rise and fall like waves. – DIY

‘the guitarist has taken a step back from the danceable sound of his be:er known band to reveal a more stripped back demeanour.’ – Mystic Sons

‘With a vocal pattern reminiscent of Matt Berninger of The National’s, the two bands could be brother and sister in the cosmic indie music soundscape.’ – The Cosmic Ear