STACK#127 May 2016

MUSIC

NEWS

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H iatus Kaiyote had only been together six months when they recorded they debut Tawk Tomahawk . And suddenly – after a Grammy nomination – they were a name on everyone's lips. Everyone from Erykah Badu to ?uestlove was singing their praises. Despite the international acclaim, the Melbourne four-piece's first ever overseas gigs were at internationally renowned music conference South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, including a show with jazz pianist Robert Glasper (recently heard on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly ). "It's a subconscious thing; you don't realise you're becoming this family, you don't talk about it," says keyboardist Simon Mavin, talking to STACK about the band's new LP Choose Your Weapon. The album builds on the musical language of their debut, but it sounds more assured, diverse and atmospheric. Jekyll , for example, channels a love of African music, and a faint hint of bossa nova. " Jekkyll was one of the first songs I ever wrote: I wrote it on piano and piano isn't my usual instrument. I was going through a huge Fela Kuti phase. That song is more Afrobeat, but Hiatus Kaiyote choose a weapon

Sitting down with Roisin murphy

Q1/ Your old band Moloko is long over, and while Hairless Toys is solo album three, it's the first in eight years. Why now? You don't ask yourself

there are deliberate Bossa Nova influences on other things," says vocalist Nai Palm. She's also effusive about the album's imagery. Discussing the track Shaolin Monk Motherfunk , she says "It's intentionally cinematic. We have these forms, it's like 'What does it look like? What does it feel like? It blossoms in a unique way. Shaolin Monk Motherfunk is like a Tibetan war song." Mavin has his own take on the track: "I see a chicken running through a Vietnamese jungle when I hear it," he grins. The album's interludes are also intriguing: who else records a jam with an owl, but Hiatus Kaiyote? "On Only Time All the Time Making Friends with Studio Owl, I went outside and there was this owl that rocked up," says Nai Palm. "I started trying

'Am I going to be able to make new music?' It arrives, or it doesn't. I've never allowed that ambition that says 'Everyone stop, call Pharrell, I have to work with him NOW!' I started in Moloko by saying 'Do you like my tight sweater?' I wasn't even a singer! It was free, creative, and marvellous: that's what gave me what I have, and now I'm loath to overthink things. An album didn't come knocking at my door in the last eight years. Q2/ Gone Fishing is about the film Paris is Burning; tell us more about it? It's wonderful: it's a documentary about drag culture in New York in the '80s. The 'ball culture' as a pageant competition: they walked in several genres – 'femme', or 'butch', or a million others. Very flamboyant, sparkly – at the same time a river of darkness, persecution, death and pain flows through it. I am very attracted to that idea of performance. To me, perfomance is for saying very complex things, in a single moment. Q3/ Hairless Toys addresses certain club cultures – European house, Casablanca Records for starters, but who are DJs Parrott and Pipes, and Winston Hazel? They were crucial in the breaking of House music in the north of England. Close friends of mine; they've shone a light on the lineage of dance music for me, my biggest educators on that front. The UK can take American black music, ten a penny and taken for granted in the US, and shine a sort of hallowed light on it. It becomes something reverent, made to look beautiful. Q4/ Exploitation is a nine-minute epic, with a lovely jazz guitar break in the middle, but tell us more about the subject matter: who's exploiting whom? That's a sexy song. That lyric works on a macro level as well: the world's full of exploitation, and the entertainment world too, is full of exploitation. I might have been exploited a couple of times and not known it. But really, it came from being a bit wry, a bit ironic. It's got a bit of a twinkle in its eye. It's not to be taken too seriously.

to lock in with it; there's 13 seconds of me and this owl!"

Choose Your Weapon by Hiatus Kaiyote is out now on Sony Music.

T he buzz around Jamie xx’s upcoming solo album already has it pegged as one of the releases of the year, despite the full opus – which is named In Colour – not being released until May 29. While he’s been highly active with his band The xx in recent years, Jamie’s production wings have been spread fairly wide as well; he’s remixed Radiohead and Florence and the Machine (who release a new album around the same time as In Colour ), and notably re-worked the last album by music icon Gil Scott Heron in 2011. While early tracks released online from the album hint at music that tinkers with the boundaries of electronica – particularly the Lily Allen/Clash-referencing Gosh – In Colour still promises to traverse fairly wide horizons. His bandmate from The xx, Romey Madley-Croft also appears on Loud Places . Watch this space. Jamie xx ready to splash the colours

Antagonist ad haunt us as we roam

F or nearly a decade now, Antagonist AD have been at the bruising, beating heart of New Zealand’s hardcore movement. Their new album, Haunt Me As I Roam, represents the beginning of a new chapter for the band. In addition to their expanding international presence and the move to new label UNFD, this record finds the Auckland five-piece more unflinchingly honest than ever. Vocalist Sam Crocker gives us the inside word on what it means to be an antagonist. "A lot of what shaped me growing up

was bands like Propagandhi, Millencolin, Antiflag, Rancid and NOFX," he says from Auckland. "From a young age I was shown the world’s injustices through their music and that injustice coupled with that punk sentiment continues to forever inspire and motivate me. I think it's important to be honest and sincere, and you can express that in a million different ways." Antagonist AD have hardly been shy in expressing their beliefs and make no apologies. "I guess it may have offended

some people... but in some way, that's the point. We have a sincere and positive message."

Haunt Us as We Road by Antagonist AD is out now via UFND/Warner.

Hairless Toys by Roisin Murphy is out now via Liberation/Universal.

MAY 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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