ARTIST PROFILE: HIATUS KAIYOTE

Author: Veronica Zurzolo

ARTIST: Hiatus Kaiyote
AKA: Nai Palm, Paul Bender, Perrin Moss, and Simon Marvin.
D.O.B: 2011
LOCATION: Melbourne, Australia

Six-years in the making comes the latest masterpiece ‘Mood Valiant' from two-time Grammy nominated Melbourne-based outfit Hiatus Kaiyote. The self described ‘wondercore’ group present ‘Mood Variant’ as a follow up album from their hugely successful 2015 release ‘Choose Your Weapon’ described as “a stunning step up" by Rolling Stone magazine, and also appeared in sample form on songs by artists The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z), Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Chance The Rapper, and Drake.

The latest release has been a long time in the making, stating in their press release that “By October 2018, recording for Mood Valiant was already well underway, and backing tracks were largely in place, ready for Nai’s vocals”. But while touring in the U.S, frontwoman Nai was diagnosed with breast cancer, saying “I became so acutely aware of my mortality”, her mothers death from the same disease never far from her mind. Fortunately Nai was rushed back to Australia for a life-saving mastectomy, coming out triumphant, vibrant, present, and grateful, altering her perspectives, and giving her lyrics a prescient quality. By late 2019, the group took a trip to Rio de Janeiro to team up with legendary Brazilian arranger Arthur Verocai, which resulted in an additional two songs to the album, and new lush horn and string textures that relaxes into a sunlit, beguiling, and masterful groove.

Hiatus Kaiyote stay true to their roots of making complex sounds simple in all that they create, ‘Mood Variant’ being no exception. Some call it “neo-soul,” others “future soul”; the group defining the release as “an act of love, of courage, of altered perspective, of sister-and-brotherhood.” ‘Mood Variant’ is out now on Brainfeeder Records/Ninja Tune, with a tour scheduled from late 2021 to early 2022.