Hiatus Kaiyote continues the positive vibe on upcoming album “Love Heart Cheat Code” | News

Melbourne-based neo-soul band Break Kaiyote performed in 2012 with their debut project, Tawk TomahawkHer re-release under Salaam Remi’s Flying Buddha label on Sony Music resulted in a remix of her breakthrough single “Nakamarra” with cotton swabThis success marked a milestone for the group, which consists of lead singer/guitarist Nai PalmBassist Paul BenderKeyboarder Simon Mavinand drummer Perrin MossThis made them the first Australian act to be nominated for a Grammy in the R&B category.

Nai Palm describes it as a magical experience to play in the US and be embraced by the black communities, reflecting on their influence and acceptance despite being a group of white Australians. They have reached the point where they have become “your favourite artists, favourite artists” by people like Erykah Badu, SZA, And Doja Cat (who covered their 2021 single “Red Room”).

“I still can’t process it, but I think it’s cool because it means we can still be relatively underground and creative, but at the same time have a foot in the door of a more mainstream audience,” Nai Palm told BET.com. “It’s really magical.”

Follow-up albums, including 2015 Choose your weapon next to Mood Valient in 2021 further cemented the self-proclaimed “polyrhythmic gangsters” as genre-bending artists who have either been sampled by or collaborated directly with artists from drake And Kendrick Lamar To Anderson .Paak And The Carters, among others.

“I think it’s great and I think it’s because we play our instruments and I think we put a lot of effort into producing the sound in an old-fashioned way,” Nai Palm explained. “What I love most about it is the hip-hop samples from so many different genres and time periods. The fact that I can be a modern artist and people can still find something they consider sample-worthy is pretty damn cool because it’s usually easier to find sexy drum sounds from a Brazilian record from the 1970s.”

There is an organic and unpredictable nature to a Hiatus Kaiyote album. They usually don’t start a project until they know what kind of album they are going to make, when it is almost finished. According to Nai Palm, each album and each song has a different approach.

“We’re just very creative and we kind of go song by song. Then you put them together and it reveals itself to you,” said Nai Palm. “It’s like cooking dinner without buying ingredients – you use what you have and it may or may not be good, but it still fills you up.”

For her fourth full-length project and her second under Flying Lotus‘ Brainfeeder imprint under Ninja Tune, Hiatus Kaiyote takes the same approach with some new ingredients. This includes Bender teaching herself the cello after her Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra-backed Hollywood Bowl show in 2022 and also incorporating harpsichord. Add in a life lesson about comparing love to a video cheat code; it adds up to Love Heart Cheat Code.

“The name Love Heart Cheat Code suggests that love is like a cheat code for life,” Nai Palm explained of the album, which is set for release on June 28. “It doesn’t necessarily make life easier, but it helps you move forward if you approach it with love. It was very intentional to fill this album with joy, because the world is a crazy place. While it’s important to acknowledge that and mourn, we should never forget our joy.”

This attitude helped Nai Palm as she reflected on various life experiences. She emphasized that despite significant challenges, such as battling breast cancer in her twenties, she looks at the world in a positive light. This gives the world meaning. Love Heart Cheat CodeThe first single from “Everything’s Beautiful” has lighthearted lyrics like, “I was going / my way / I was doing well, well / with the sun kissing my face / I was doing well.” It’s about appreciating life, says Nai Palm.

“I’m still alive and I had a wake-up call. Now I can live my life more fully because I no longer trust the illusion that life lasts forever and I appreciate my life more,” Nai Palm explained. “It’s a gift. It’s a gift and a choice to think that way. So for me, everything is beautiful. It’s not a delusion. It’s a choice to see the beauty in things.”

Although Love Heart Cheat Code could be considered their most digestible album, the band’s typical complex rhythms, lush musical melodies, Nai Palm’s exceptional vocals and otherworldly mood remain intact. There is no better album than “Telescope”, where the verses of each track are inspired by what NASA’s Hubble telescope recorded on the band member’s birthday. Hiatus Kaiyote also pulled samples from NASA’s Soundcloud account. Meanwhile, the track finds Nai Palm writing lyrical odes to The temptations Classic “My Girl” and Afrofuturism jazz icon Sun Ra. Further cuts to Love Heart Cheat Code, like the title track and “Make Friends” are full of the musical depth the band is known for, but with a dash of pop sensibility.

“I did a few interviews and they were like, ‘yeah, you guys want to do something simpler,'” Nai Palm said. “I was like, ‘Seriously?’ It doesn’t feel like that. It just feels like we’re just refining shit.”