Hiatus Kaiyote release 'Mood Valiant'
'Mood Valiant' is the Australian supergroup's first album in 6 years
Last updated 25th Jun 2021
Melbourne-based supergroup Hiatus Kaiyote have released their hugely anticipated new record - Mood Valiant.
The Grammy-nominated outfit's new album, released via Ninja Tune subsidiary Brainfeeder Records, is their first in 6 years, following on from 2015's Choose Your Weapon.
Choose Your Weapon was awarded the Jazz FM Award for 'Album of the Year' in 2016.
The six-year journey to create Mood Valiant originally began on the road, as the group added new material to their sets in support of their 2015 album Choose Your Weapon. Towards the end of 2018, most of the backing tracks had been laid, ready for Nai Palm's vocals. Then, during a brief swing through the U.S., Hiatus’s frontwoman was diagnosed with breast cancer. As Nai Palm recovered from her treatment, the group swiftly returned to their work on the album.
The album features the work of legendary Brazilian artist and arranger Arthur Verocai, helping give extra colour to the album with sweeping strings on several compositions.
Watch Hiatus Kaiyote's 'Get Sun (feat. Arthur Verocai)'
About Hiatus Kaiyote:
Comprised of Naomi “Nai Palm” Saalfield (guitar, vocals), Paul Bender (bass), Simon Mavin (keys), and Perrin Moss (drums), Hiatus Kaiyote broke internationally in 2012 with their first LP, Tawk Tomahawk, which was praised by simpatico musical travellers from Erykah Badu to Questlove to Prince.
Their first R&B Grammy nomination, for their song 'Nakamarra,' was followed by a second for 'Breathing Underwater,' from their second album, 2015’s Choose Your Weapon. Their music continues to defy musical boundaries: some calling it “neo-soul,” others “future soul”; the band calls it, simply, "wondercore".
Hiatus Kaiyote's music found fans in hip-hop, sampled on songs by The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z), Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Chance The Rapper, and Drake—with whom Nai Palm collaborated on his Scorpion album; and in jazz, when Robert Glasper invited the band to appear on his album of Miles Davis remakes, Everything’s Beautiful.
Read more:
18 jazz albums you need to know about in 2021...
Prince: a look at the transcending music star
Emma-Jean Thackray announces debut album