Ahead of their upcoming album, Nikitch & Kuna Maze have dropped a brand-new single. “Engatinhar” was released on 14th April 2022. The duo’s recently released track is a collaboration with Brazilian singer-songwriter Joao Selva and sees the pair experiment with vocal material. The duo took to Instagram to share the new release and provide information concerning their upcoming album.
The Brussel formed partnership, Nikitch & Kuna Maze, otherwise known as Nicolas Morant and Edouard Gilbert are known for their individualist explorations of various musical genres. The pair first rose to fame for their utilisation of genres such as Jazz, Frunk, house and Spanish music.“Engathinar” sees Selva lend his vocal talents to introduce a new element to the duo’s unique sound. A press release for the single describes the track’s musical content, “…see’s Joao Selva add his critically-acclaimed bright-boogie vocals, steeped in tradition, tropicalism, and imbued with a nomadic spirit (he’s a notorious ambassador of Brazilian music!) to Nikitch & Kuna Maze’s sonic intersection of jazz and electronic music.”
The new single is to first track to be taken from Niktich & Kuna Maze’s upcoming album; Back & Forth is set to be digitally released on 27th May 2022. The new album sees the duo experiment further with new facets of music, Morant aka Nikitch gives the following statement concerning the collaboration “At the beginning, it was quite weird and new for us, but it definitely added something special to the album. I met Joao in Lyon a few years ago and we stayed in touch after moving to Grenoble. He’s been working with a lot of musicians we know well, so it was cool to finally work together”.
The soon to be released album’s origins lay in sketches and ideas shared between Mortant and Gilbert, the final touches were then completed in various recording sessions. Along with the early planning stages involved within the process, the final production, recording and creative decisions were undertook online as the duo were geographically separated. This sense of detachment is further explained by Morant, “we have to go back and forth regularly to keep this musical journey moving, and for us to live this life making music”
With an amounting number of rave reviews, the duo’s new material is already gaining traction within the music press. Giles Peterson from BBC 6 Music has stated, according to a press release; “This is a good one! This is that sound, right?”. The independent Canadian based site Music Is My Sanctuary have also published positive feedback; “Killer dancefloor business from Tru Thoughts that should appeal to fans of house, broken beat and Brazilian jazz-funk legends Azymuth” French radio network FIP have also commented on the duo’s new music, “Between house and jazz, the doping groove of Nikitch & Kuna Maze”
The genre-bending duo will soon hit the road in support of their new album. The pair will be joined by drummer Victor Pascal for their upcoming UK and European Dates. The complete touring schedule has yet to be announced and further information concerning the tour dates will also be confirmed. However, fans will not have to wait long for the album’s launch parties. The duo will celebrate the release of Back & Forth in Brussels at Le Botanique and the prestigious London venue Ronnie Scotts on 10th May 2022.
Back & Forth Tracklist
1) “Coffee Kingdom”
2) “Zugzwang”
3) “507 Miles High”
4) “LeeZurd”
5) “Engatinhar”
6) “P.P’s Dream”
7) “Sauce Baby”
8) ‘Bus de Nuit”
9) “La Di F…Da”
10) “En Passant”
Click here to stream/download/buy “Engatinhar”.
Click here to pre-order Back & Forth.
