VENNA is an indie alt-pop artist from Alberta, Canada with a passion for evocative lyricism. She holds an immense appreciation for the power that music has to effect change and self-realization, and strives to be the type of artist that can both intrigue and relate to her audience. Pulling inspiration from classic poets, fantasy literature, and countless powerful women bringing “anti-pop” to the mainstream, her music serves to provoke thought and emotion; as an aspiring author as well, she takes great care in crafting her lyrics to this end.
Music and writing have always been the driving factors in VENNA’s life, from the age of three when she told her parents she wanted to grow up to be Michael Jackson, to the day she wrote her first song, and every day since. At the age of 15, VENNA (then Shay Esposito) became the youngest recipient of the Rawlco Radio 10k/20 grant and recorded and released her first album (For Annie) at the age of 16. She went on to release her second album (Sunday) at 19 years old after winning a Factor grant. She has received international recognition for her music as a finalist in the International Songwriting Contest, USA Songwriting Contest, Canadian Songwriting Contest, and as a category winner in the UK Songwriting Contest. In 2018 she made top 10 in the Slaight Juno Master Class, and in 2019, released two singles with as much success, even getting radio play on hit pop stations across Canada.
DAY SULAN DROPS NEW SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO
“TEACH YOU HOW TO PLAY”
Brooklyn standout Melvoni unveils a magnetic new single entitled “Chrome 2” today.
LISTEN TO “Chrome 2” HERE
WATCH “Chrome 2” VIDEO HERE
On the track, off-kilter synths shine through slick 808s. The soundscape underlines introspective, yet infectious verses from Melvoni as he dives into “Deep Thoughts” and admits, “I got scars on my chest.” The hook ignites a catchy call-and-response, balancing intense emotion and hypnotic harmonies. Stay tuned for the premiere of an equally captivating music video soon.
It only increases Melvoni’s momentum this year. Recently, he served up “BEAM” [feat. Dougie B. & KALIQ]. Right out of the gate, it reeled in over 200K Spotify streams and 443K YouTube views on the music video.
Switzerland’s ‘King of Tears’ aka New York’s leading Fondue Western™ baritone, Sam Himself, presents Golden Days, the second single in anticipation of his sophomore LP (due out early 2023). The Swiss-born, Brooklyn-based indie rocker’s latest is an epic grower – full of energy and raw emotion free from pathos. Sam’s signature voice, by turns vulnerable and assertive, proves its impressive dynamic range, soaring from intimate whispers to arena-sized falsetto howls as the singer turns regret into resilience, trades defeat for defiance, and leaves nothing on the table.
For Golden Days, Sam Himself reunited with his longtime producer and ‘Second Beatle’, Daniel Schlett (Iggy Pop; The War on Drugs), whose category-defying mix was mastered by none other than Greg Calbi (David Bowie; Bruce Springsteen). Sam’s musical ‘big brother’ and studio collaborator of many years, bass player JD Werner (Ghostface Killah; Lee “Scratch” Perry), added to the musical composition, making it the first Sam Himself track co-authored by another artist – and an unbridled celebration of musical community to boot. Drummer Chris Egan (Blood Orange; !!!) did his part to blow the roof off the party, which was recorded at producer Schlett’s Strange Weather Studio in Brooklyn, Sam’s creative homebase since the inception of his solo project.
It’s been less than a year since his debut LP Power Ballads (a “well-crafted set of atmospheric post-punk” – KEXP) broke Sam Himself onto the international stage; few would blame the artist for taking a quick nap on his laurels, e.g. his first national album chart entry, radio airplay across Europe and the U.S. (as recently as May 2022, KCRW declared one of Sam’s songs Today’s Top Tune) and two Swiss Music Award-nominations.
super-duo Jody Fontaine and Baby Boy of the Bay Area’s buzziest rising collective AG Club unleash their anxiously awaited new album, Impostor Syndrome. Get the album HERE via Epic Records and purchase limited-edition box sets HERE. Additionally, to celebrate the record’s arrival, AG Club premiere the music video for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” [feat. Glen the Saiyan, Sam Truth, & redveil]. Watch it HERE.
Executive produced by Vic Wainstein (Frank Ocean, Tyler The Creator, Mac Miller), Impostor Syndrome is notably the group’s first studio album to be released by a major label. The album’s cover art was designed by acclaimed sculpture and visual artist Johan Drox. The 13 track album includes previously shared singles “Mr. Put It On,” “TRU RELIGION,” and “Kevin,” as well as their latest, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
For the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” video, the group self-directed this surreal action-packed visual. The clip encompasses a carjacking, cash-loaded briefcase, hostage situation, and insane escape sequence intercut with equally intense performance footage. The high-octane track hinges on a snappy groove and a jazz-y piano breakdown punctuated by fast-paced lines such as, “Might look like I’m dreaming, but I’m on course and I’m speeding and I’m gone.”
Toronto shoegaze/indie rock duo Soft Set are thrilled to announce the release of their new album Still Life out now on all digital streaming platforms. Listen here.
Soft Set started the roll-out of music from Still Life backin January with the release of the lead single ‘More More More’, followed by 2nd single ‘Diamond’ in June. Both singles received glowing press coverage and many Spotify playlist adds.
Still Life is Soft Set’s debut full-length album and follows the release of their 2020 debut EP Love and Dancing, which was mixed by RIDE’s Mark Gardener at his studio in Oxfordshire, UK (OX4 Sound). Still Life was mixed by Shae Brossard (Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and mastered by Slowdive’s Simon Scott and features Mark Crozier (bassist, The Jesus and Mary Chain) on the first track ‘More More More’. The shoegaze is most definitely alive and well on Still Life.
“Like our debut EP, Still Life provides the listener with stories of youth and nostalgia and that longing to be loved,” says Soft Set’s Nathan Athay. “We feel that our music caters to all audiences and we hope everyone enjoys the songs as much as we had fun making them!”
Founded in late 2019, braveweather is an Orlando-based indie rock band whose music explores the concepts of intimacy, infidelity, loss, mental health, struggle and personal purpose. Elements of their unique sound are influenced by late 90’s and early 2000’s indie-rock and modern indie rock and punk.
braveweather came together for the first time as a band 2 months before COVID-19 spread across the world, locking everyone indoors for months. For the duration of 2020, Christian, Maria, and Tony only saw each other – writing and recording songs in unusedfront office of a casket warehouse that they got to use as a practice space.
Being in solitude for most of a year gives you a lot of time to think, and to reflect. These thoughts, feelings, and reflections are at the core of braveweather’s writing.
Electro-pop-punk phenom Sizzy Rocket returns two years after her acclaimed ANARCHY LP with a new LP – Live Laugh Love – out November 11, 2022 on all digital platforms; pre-save. The title track is available today with a companion visual streaming on Sizzy’s official YouTube channel HERE – an ode to letting go through unhinged creativity and expression. A frenzied reclamation of one’s own power, “Live Laugh Love” serves to inspire the underdogs, the outcasts, and the misfits.
WATCH “LIVE LAUGH LOVE” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
PRE-SAVE LIVE LAUGH LOVE
“Live Laugh Love is an art punk extravaganza, two years in the making,” says Rocket. “These songs were truly ripped from my soul during a time when I needed inspiration more than anything. I just showed up to the studio every day fueled by bittersweet memories and wild nights. It’s a collection of my favorite stories I’ve never shared until now. And it finally feels like letting go, which is embedded in the message behind the phrase “Live Laugh Love” if you listen closely.”
The “Live Laugh Love” music video was made with long-time collaborator Worst November. The two road-tripped to Laughlin, NV with a bag of cameras, a handwritten shot list, and a duffel bag of indie-sleaze-inspired looks (cue the bedazzled shades and gas station trucker hat). Shot in a desolate outlet mall in her home state of Nevada, “Live Laugh Love” centers a carefree Rocket employing a photo booth and a portable karaoke machine for her own version of a wild night out. Hearkening back to her childhood performances in Nevada strip malls, she blissfully rocks out to her most punk song to date, embodying the “make the most out of what you have” mentality.
Returning with a bang, red hot Lake City, Florida rapper Raw Youngin drops a brand new single and music video entitled “SPINNIN” [feat. Doe Boy] today. Listen to “Spinnin” HERE and watch the music video HERE.
On the track, 808s puncture a haunting string sample. Raw Youngin’s rough flow cuts through this soundscape with intent and intensity. Meanwhile, Freebandz phenomenon and Cleveland’s own Doe Boy counters with an equally hard-hitting and hypnotic cameo. In the accompanying visual, these two buzzing forces of J
Most importantly, it sets the stage for the arrival of his anxiously awaited new project, 386 Landlord. Once again, he holds nothing back with a barrage of blunt bangers.
Get ready for more from Raw Youngin very soon!
“SPINNIN” follows up a series of recent anthems, including “LAX” and “Jit.” He accumulated hundreds of thousands of streams and views between the tracks and heightened anticipation for more.
“Oxlade’s love songs aren’t drenched in pain, they’re upbeat like he’s reflecting on the good times in a relationship instead of how it went wrong. On “Away,” the EP’s rhythmic centerpiece, Oxlade doesn’t sound bitter, but almost grateful for the experience. It’s catchy, dancey, and optimistic; this shine has expanded his reach from Nigeria to the UK, and it would be no surprise if it soon found him fans in the States.” – Pitchfork
Lagos-based Nigerian artist Oxalde broke out on a global stage with the hit “Away,” which was co-signed by the likes of Drake and Naomi Campbell, and named one of the Top 50 songs of the year 2020 by Rolling Stone. With the release of his EP Oxygen shortly after, Oxlade has positioned himself as a new prince of Afropop. Earlier this summer, he shared a special COLORs performance of his new song “Ku Lo Sa,” a summer infused track with a melody characteristic of his very own Afropop sound. Since it’s release, the performance has taken on a new life of its own. It is taking over TikTok with several trends growing strong. Over the past few weeks, fans have been mirroring his COLORS performance, resulting in over 1.3 million creations so far – see a few examples here, here or here that he has shared to his over 1.5million followers on Instagram.
“Anyone who listens can connect to my lyrics, and in turn, it connects me with anyone who is listening. My music is for people who take what I’m saying personally because it truly is representative of day-to-day life.” – Oxlade
With the potential of becoming one of the biggest music exports from Nigeria, Oxlade’s prepares the release of a new project backed with a striking image and explosive live performances.
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE COMING SOON!
Indie pop singer, Kenzo Cregan is thrilled to release his new single “What Ya Gonna Do?” that is out now. “What Ya Gonna Do?” is off his new EP No Where To Hideto be released on October 14th.
Kenzo says “This new tune by Kenzo Cregan is sure to turn some heads. His laid back vocal dances above an uptempo instrumental, making you want to dance, while also putting your mind at ease.”
In support of his new music, Kenzo is going on tour with The Unlikely Candidates. He has recently wrapped up as support for band The Weathers. See all tour dates below.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Kenzo Cregan found his love for music at the tender age of three, and hasn’t stopped since. Growing up in a musical household, and with a rock musician for a father, Cregan found his inspiration from many classic artists we all know and love today. Artists like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Neil Young are just some of the artists Kenzo grabs inspiration from. Developing his own style, Kenzo is able to blend some of those classic sounds, with an Indie Rock aesthetic. When one listens to Kenzo Cregan, not only do you feel a sense of Nostalgia, but also a similar feeling one gets when listening to acts like Beck, Harry Styles, and The Black Keys.
At 21 years old, alternative experimental artist hurt season is already familiar with the concept of evolution. Previously known by the moniker HRT SZN, he feels like the new name and project is a more accurate reflection of himself – someone who is less afraid of criticism and more willing to be authentic. Where HRT SZN conformed, hurt season is breaking out of the box.
hurt season’s new single “datreesh” is out now everywhere and is the second of many new tracks the alt hip-hop artist will be releasing in the near future. The track and music video have been featured on Wordplay and HipHopDX.
“’datreesh’ contains many emotions I experienced through my last breakup – ‘treesh’ meaning b****. The intent of the song is to say my parting words, without directly addressing who they are for.” hurt season’s combination of emotional, meaningful lyrics on top of a catchy mellow beat makes for a heavy hitter.
Americana rock and dark country singer Gunner & Smith is thrilled to release his new album Hear You In My Head that is out now.
Gunner says, About the album: This collection of songs are about ideas and concepts that fill my mind and I can’t get rid of until I write a song about them. My background is in religious history and that is the lense I see the world through. I obsess over ideas of faith, philosophy, history and folklore and this album is a collection of things that rattle around in my mind.
The focus track for the album is ‘Hear You in My Head’, here are some words about that song: Hear You in My Head – This is about how we determine internal dialogue. I grew up in an evangelical christian home and was taught to constantly be speaking to God. Now that I no longer am in that environment it’s something I carry with me despite not believing in it. This approach creates a concept of never truly being alone and this song is exploring that. It’s about what you can and can’t change about yourself, how you think and your framework for processing events.
Hvnnibvl embarks us on his ‘80s fantasy with his new single Never Enough. Born in Buffalo as John Jacob Hannibal V, Hvnnibvl is a child of divorce who fulfilled his lack of togetherness through music, honing his skills since 12. He officially launched his career in 2014 meeting great success on Spotify and Apple Music, with additional support from Trap Nation, CLASH and even Universal Music Group, while his debut EP Reasonably, Relative now counts over 600K streams. Having previously opened for Lil Uzi Vert, blackbear, Poppy and THEY. amongst others, and recently performed for the Live Nation’s Breaking Sound event, Hvnnibvl is definitely energizing the scene, one catchy banger at a time. As summer slowly comes to an end already leaving us with a creeping feeling of nostalgia,
the Los Angeles-based artist delivers an electrifying retro pop track that will see you driving to the sunset, chasing dreams of a relationship… “It really comes from a place of feeling like you (and your efforts) are never enough, despite trying to be. The entire idea came from a vision I had about a retro fantasy where a guy is chasing a girl who is always making her way around the world with different people, living a life never to be seen but only heard about through the grapevine. Yet, every now and then she’ll come back to town and make these promises to pick back up where things left off with this guy, so he tries and tries to do what he can each time, never quite figuring out that it’s all just for nothing”, Hvnnibvl reveals. Polished with dancy drumbeats, melodic synths and vibrant vocals punctuated with shiny falsettos, Never Enough was written, produced and engineered by the singer himself. The single will be released on all streaming platforms on September 9, 2022.
QUEER|ART ANNOUNCES QUEER|ART|FILM FALL 2022 SEASON
Co-Curated by Heather Lynn Johnson and Sarah Zapata
Queer|Art, New York City’s home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists, is pleased to announce the upcoming Fall season of Queer|Art|Film, presented in person from September 19th – December 5th. Queer|Art|Film returns once again to the IFC Center with a season curated by multidisciplinary artists Heather Lynn Johnson and Sarah Zapata. Each month Queer|Art invites their favorite queer artists to present a film that inspired them, then holds a fascinating post-screening Q&A that illuminates the film and its impact on our guest’s work and life.
This season, as we navigate a rollback of our right to bodily autonomy and rising fascist attacks on our community, these curators seek to find solace and solidarity in unexpected places, and offer not an escape but perhaps a re-lensing of the wavering world around us through films hand-picked by an impressive cohort of queer artists. The lineup includes performance icon Cassils alongside downtown darling Ela Troyano; interdisciplinary artist and oral historian Tamara Santibañez; multidisciplinary queer Caribbean artist Christopher Udemezue; and finally the truly legendary photographer and activist Lola Flash. The films promise to tickle all of your horror and sadomasochistic delights, so don’t miss these one-of-a-kind screenings!
Still images here.
Tickets here.
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Monday, September 19th
Cassils and Ela Troyano present Latin Boys Go to Hell
(Ela Troyano, 1997)
Five young Latinos with extreme passions interact and eventually explode across Brooklyn in this story of self-discovery, friction, and resentment. The film stars Irwin Ossa as 20-year-old Justin, John Bryant Davila as his handsome cousin Angel, and in his film debut, Mike Ruiz as Carlos. Presenting artist Cassils writes that “Ela cast Latin heartthrob Mike Ruiz, centering homosexual Latin representation over cis white West Hollywood twinkdom. This film flags John Waters, telenovela, and Pedro Almodóvar.” Shot in dreamy 16mm, the film glows with the fiery desire of its characters, who find themselves caught between their attraction to a machismo image and a longing for meaningful gay intimacy. Adapted from an unpublished novel by André Salas, this feature debut from legend of the downtown scene Ela Troyano is sure to get your blood pumping!
Tickets here.
About Cassils
CASSILS is a transgender artist who makes their own body the material and protagonist of their performances. Cassils’ art contemplates the history(s) of LGBTQIA+ violence, representation, struggle and survival. For Cassils, performance is a form of social sculpture: Drawing from the idea that bodies are formed in relation to forces of power and social expectations, Cassils’s work investigates historical contexts to examine the present moment. Cassils had recent solo exhibitions at HOME Manchester, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Perth Institute for Contemporary Arts, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NYC; Institute for Contemporary Art, AU; Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts; School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Bemis Center, Omaha; MU Eindhoven, Netherlands.
About Ela Troyano
Ela Troyano is a writer, director, producer, and interdisciplinary artist. Her projects bring together different aesthetic histories and genres, from downtown New York avant-garde film and performance, to queer cinema, and Latinx film and video as well as commercial television. Troyano received the Teddy Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for Carmelita Tropicana Your Kunst is Your Waffen—Your Art is Your Weapon, attended the Sundance Institute’s screenwriting workshop with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and received awards from Creative Capital, the Ford Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Independent Television Service, New York State Council on the Arts, Rockefeller Media, and a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship.
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Monday, October 10th
Tamara Santibañez presents Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism
(Michelle Handelman, 1995)
Interdisciplinary artist Tamara Santibañez presents Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism, a deep dive into a community of Leatherdykes in San Francisco in the mid-90s. This debut documentary by filmmaker Michelle Handelman presents a rough collage of kink and BDSM practices, leaning into forms of play not often shown, even in queer films. From images of needle play to shots of extended BDSM scenes to tops directly addressing the audience as their submissives, the film is unflinching in its portrayal of this leather scene. Through collected interviews, an image of a community that is grappling with questions of forbidden desires, gender & sexual fluidity, and the politicization of their very existence begins to emerge. Between the bright colored overlays and the iconic 90s fashion (mullets everywhere!), the film itself transforms into a kind of a time capsule, documenting a moment in queer history in all its messy, complicated, campy glory.
Tickets here.
About Tamara Santibañez
Tamara Santibañez is an interdisciplinary artist and oral historian living and working in Brooklyn. They approach the body as a site for archiving and accessing personal and collective narratives and view tattooing as a political intervention. As a queer and trans artist, their practice memorializes the language and resistance strategies used by “othered” populations to build alternative worlds.
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Monday, November 7th
Christopher Udemezue presents Annihilation
(Alex Garland, 2018)
Multidisciplinary artist Christopher Udemezue presents Annihilation (2018) starring Natalie Portman as a biologist on an expedition into an environmental disaster zone created by a comet, as she looks for her husband who disappeared into the mysterious zone after volunteering to go on a special forces mission. Based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff Vandermeer, the film follows a team of all female scientists as they embark on what appears to be a suicide mission into the mysterious zone known as “The Shimmer”. The film, directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), has drawn comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tarkovsky’s Stalker. Annihilation challenges and expands upon what a sci-fi film can do while simultaneously grappling with massive existential questions and highly intimate personal ones in the lives of the characters. With a shocking ending that has kept audiences guessing for years following the film’s release, you won’t want to miss the chance to see this one on the big screen!
Tickets here.
About Christopher Udemezue
Born in Long Island, NY, Christopher Udemezue has shown at a variety of galleries and museums, including the New Museum, Queens Museum of Art, PS1 MoMa, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Mercer Union, Recess Gallery and Anat Ebgi Gallery. Udemezue utilizes his Jamaican heritage, the complexities of desire for connection, healing through personal mythology and ancestry as a primary source for his work. As the founder of the platforms RAGGA NYC & CONNEK JA, he completed a residency with the New Museum “All The Threatened and Delicious Things Joining One Another” in June 2017. In 2018, Udemezue was in the New Museum’s “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon” 40-year anniversary show and a part of the chosen artists in The Shed’s Open Call grant program/group show in 2019. In 2021, Chris was elected to be co-chair of the board at Recess Gallery, Brooklyn NY and had a solo show at Anat Ebgi Gallery in Los Angeles, California.
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Monday, December 5th
Lola Flash presents Beasts of the Southern Wild
(Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
The fall 2022 season of Queer|Art|Film concludes with Beasts of the Southern Wild, a dystopian family drama that takes place on the edge of the world. Six-year-old Hushpuppy (played by the remarkable Quvenzhané Wallis) and her ailing father Wink live in ‘The Bathtub’ – an island in the Mississippi Delta at constant risk of flooding. As her father’s illness worsens, so too does the climate around them, as melting polar ice brings rising floodwaters and prehistoric beasts to bear on their small community. Shot in a cinema-verite style by debut director Benh Zeitlin, and featuring a cast of amateur actors from a small Louisiana parish, the film achieves a documentary style even as it tells a fantastical tale. As presenter Lola Flash writes, “it speaks to the strength of community and centers family, in much the same way our LGBTQ+ families are empowered.”
Tickets here.
About Lola Flash
Lola Flash uses photography to challenge stereotypes and offer new ways of seeing that transcend and interrogate gender, sexual, and racial norms. Flash received their bachelor’s degree from Maryland Institute and Masters from London College of Printing, in the UK. Flash works primarily in portraiture, engaging those who are often deemed invisible. Flash has work included in important public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, MoMA, the African American Museum of Culture + History, in Washington, the Whitney and the Brooklyn Museum. Flash’s work welcomes audiences who are willing to not only look but see.
The smallest, most menial interactions can lead your mind to create whole other worlds.
“Little Island” is one of those unrequited-love love songs at its core. But instead of staying fully faithful to the archetype of a song like that, its abstract lyrics refute and reserve a more introspective space for the song.
All the trees, the plants, the leaves / Heritage rips at the seams
You moved here so kind and pretty / Or so you seem, so you seem
Listen to “Little Island” on streaming platforms everywhere now.
You can also watch the official video on YouTube.
This song explores the idea of seeing your life predetermined by a heritage that can never quite be erased, no matter how different your life might be from that of those who came before you.
The joy, pain, and everything triumphant and troubled about that heritage lives inside of you. The seams of it are always sewn back.
What’s left is an island – a strand – of living and breathing things.
Thank you for hearing me,
Custie
Sometimes we meet people and we know that they will only be in our life for a short period of time, but we still pursue these temporary relationships…
I’m Emi Jeen, an alt-pop singer-songwriter from Montreal. My second EP, Why So Serious, is such a transformation for me. I’m definitely having more fun and trying new sounds.
When musician/producer Evan Blair did a Tik Tok video saying that he wanted to write with indie artists while we were all stuck at home during the pandemic, I decided to reach out and we booked a Zoom session and wrote this track. Then, he sent me the production and I recorded the vocals in my studio.
Listen to “Everything, Something, Nothing,” out on streaming platforms everywhere now.
“You were my everything then just something I kinda like and now you’re nothing.”
Expect a 90s vibe with energetic drums and hooky guitars, exploding into a catchy chorus! This song really celebrates the feeling of abandon; leaving someone that was once everything and then nothing…
Thanks for listening,
EMI JEEN
Madison, WI-based rising psychedelic-funk multi-instrumentalist Kainalu shares mellow, introspective groove, “Inhibitions / Intuitions” out everywhere now, along with a lyric video, featuring vocalist MUNYA. The contemplative, experimental sophomore LP by Kainalu, Ginseng Hourglass, is due out November 4. Shop exclusive Kainalu merch on sale now here.
“Intuitions / Inhibitions” picks up where the previously shared nostalgia-tinged psychedelic-house track “Queen of Wands” left off. The airy groove wrestles with the apprehension that comes with taking risks in love and trusting one’s instincts, which aren’t always right. Longtime collaborators and internet friends, the latest track sees the musicians expand upon their creative foundation to arrive somewhere brand new as MUNYA’s vocals float along the bassline. “MUNYA, aka Josie Boivin, and I have been collaborating on tracks together for several years,” says Kainalu. “We met through Instagram and have actually never met in person despite creating countless songs together. The song dives deeper into the story presented by ‘Queen of Wands.’ Fighting one’s inhibitions about taking risks in love versus following their intuition which has previously led them astray.”
After a couple of teasing EP and video clip releases, the Belgian Alfa Matrix label announces us today the full length album by Die Robo Sapiens, the ultimate EBM project by the members of Die Krupps. “Robo Sapien Race” will be released by the end of October on a fan edition Vinyl (with lots of extras such as a DJ Turntable slipmat) and as a limited 2CD box set pressing next to download.
Behind Die Robo Sapiens we find the Die Krupps members Jürgen Engler plus Ralf Dörper and Marcel Zürcher.
The 10-track “Robo Sapien Race” album offers a blend of minimal, vintage and powerful synth music with harder, stronger and angrier EBM assaults made of fat and ripping basslines, powerful German vocals and upbeat synth sequences. The artwork was rendered by the talented Japanese designer Tomoki Hayasaki.
Jürgen Engler: “The idea for us was to have an outlet for songs that couldn’t be used in a Die Krupps context. The use of guitars in Die Robo Sapiens music being taboo In a way, it’s a return to our electro roots, but with a twist. Imagine the Duesseldorf sound of Kraftwerk mixed with hard Die Krupps EBM. This combination of styles has been spooking around my brain for a while, and it was time to put it into action.”
The album’s first pressing comes out as a limited deluxe double-CD Digipak holding a bonus disc featuring each album song remixed by an impressive list of electro artists in the likes of Sebastian Komor, Orange Sector, Plastic Noise Experience, Metroland, Aiboforcen, Ad:Key, Implant, Aesthetische, Kant Kino and Cubic.
The album also gets released on vinyl format as a fan edition pack limited to 333 units worldwide including the 10-track album on black vinyl in a deluxe gatefold packaging (with full lyrics) with a bonus DJ turntable slipmat, a page marker and a numbered postcard, plus the new 20-track “Sounds From The Matrix 023” label CD compilation which for now is exclusive to this release.
Email: neill@outloudculture.com
