NEW TRACK: heka – ‘i’m the thorn’

A gentle blend of melancholic lyrics and evocative, ambient synth textures, Francesca Brierley aka heka has shared her latest single ‘i’m the thorn’. Taken from her upcoming EP, swan songs, which is set for release on 22nd September via Practise Music, the track is inspired by the Italian-born, London-based multi-disciplinary artist’s ruminations on a broken romance.

“’i’m the thorn’ meditates over the spoils of an unhealthy relationship,” heka explains. “It’s about love that doesn’t work and ends up hurting both. It’s about feeling liberated by putting an end to it and still sensing a bond with that person through the mutual wounds inflicted. It was conflicting to feel comforted by it and I wanted to express the dichotomy of that feeling.” Through her poetic words and considered instrumentation, heka explores these clashes of emotion, offering her listeners a moment of respite whilst doing so.

The opening line of the new single also references the title of heka’s upcoming EP swan songs – “I wait for your song to calm / I wait for your song / your swan song” – which is a collection of six affecting “butchered folk” tracks. It’s an intimate, warm exploration of the songwriter’s experiences of life, love, loss and nostalgia, all filtered through a classical-contemporary musical lens. heka moves through these states with impressive transience and grace, reflecting the growth and resilience that comes with processing these often complex emotions.

Listen to ‘i’m the thorn’ below.

Pre-save heka’s swang songs EP here

Follow heka on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Holly De Looze

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

 

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NEW TRACK: Nyokabi Kariũki – ‘Nazama’

A deeply soothing, hypnotic soundscape inspired by a recovery from long-term illness, Kenyan-born, USA-based composer and sound artist Nyokabi Kariũki has shared her latest single ‘Nazama’. Taken from her upcoming debut full length album, FEELING BODY, which is set for release on 3rd March via cmntx Records, the track is a considered, experimental blend of soft vocals and instrumentation that tentatively celebrates the regaining of physical and emotional strength.

“There’s a trauma of illness that remains within you, both in the physical places that it existed; and in the mind,” Kariũki explains about the context behind ‘Nazama’, a Swahili term which translates as “to sink”. On this single, and throughout her new album, the musician explores the marks left by her experience of living with long-COVID for a large part of 2021. She was also inspired by the fluid and healing capacity of water, which is a recurring motif throughout the record.

Following on from her acclaimed debut EP, peace places: kenyan memories, released in (2022), FEELING BODY provided a new space for Kariũki to dismantle and make sense of the impact that chronic illness has had on her well being. Using field recordings, flexing her impressive vocal range, and accompanied by violinist Yaz Lancaster and trumpet player Michael Denis Ó Callaghan, Kariũki created a safe space to examine this difficult process.

“To share a painful story is to also to discover ways to protect yourself as you do so,” comments the musician. “Asking text-to-speech to say phrases you struggle to repeat; recording stream-of-consciousness voice notes so that you don’t have to sit long in thoughts; and to find, in sound — from field recordings, to dreamy improvisations by musical friends — a way to express visceral feelings and noisy thoughts.”

These “noisy thoughts” have translated into dreamy, ethereal soundscapes like ‘Nazama’, which is the concluding track on FEELING BODY. “There is a lot to say about being sick, about being sick during a pandemic; about how the world treats you if you are sick for longer than “just a cold”,” Kariũki continues. “I am ever in awe of our bodies, and how they keep going, despite and in spite of all the pain we go through in life. In a way, this album is an expression of love, and gratitude, to my own.”

Listen to ‘Nazama’ below.

Follow Nyokabi Kariũki on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Facebook & Instagram

Photo Credit: Gianfranco Bello

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment