Hiatus Kaiyote

I’ve been listening to Hiatus Kaiyote lately. At first I really had no idea what to think. It’s this strange and engaging mixture of late 90’s/early 2000’s neo-soul with a full band replicating these Soulaquarian madlib/dilla-esque beats. The lead singer/guitar player is named Nai Palm. A fire dancing woman with a voice coated in honey. Her vocals encapsulate the spirit of almost every female jazz and/or R&B singer that I’ve ever loved. She is white. And not only is she white, she is Australian. The entire band is composed of Australian people doing American soul at a level of musical competence that is somewhat confounding. Having heard their two albums one might assume that they have been playing together for decades. On the contrary they are a very young band. Needless to say, given the above mentioned factors, consider my mind fully blown.

I’m so hooked. I just want to thank this band for proving that Australia has so much more to offer than Iggy Azalea. Not that I am anti-Iggy, but yeah, who wants that to define your nation’s musical contribution to the world? They are overcompensating in the best way possible.

Every now and then someone does a throwback album that works. Are we that far ahead in the future that people can be paying homage to Erykah Badu’s “Mama’s Gun” and sparking a neo-neo-soul revival at the same time? I suppose so. When I hear these songs I hear Voodoo, I hear Mama’s Gun, I hear The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, I hear The Unseen, I hear Brown Sugar, I hear Mariah, I hear Sarah Vaughn, I hear Billy Holiday, I hear Ella Fitzgerald. It’s very powerful female-driven music led by a very charismatic and poignant woman. Her lyrics are quite spiritual and based in the ancestry in her homeland, the geography of the outback.

It’s more than a good album, it’s an album that has given me just a small bit of life. And who could ever argue against that? It is too easy to become disillusioned with buzz bands and one hit wonders and youtube sensations. It’s SO refreshing to hear a full album that works beginning to end. So thanks for breathing a bit of fresh air into my musical existence, Hiatus Kaiyote.