After being in the works for a long time, the futuristic funk album ‘Dystopic Sci-Fi’, released with Gravitas Recordings (US) is out now on all platforms.
With a modern take, Dystopic Sci-Fi is a musical journey inspired by the music of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, from funk, jazz and progressive rock to electro-funk, dance-punk, hip hop, breaks, industrial, big beat and drum & bass among others. Featured vocal performances include the US rapper Jackson Whalan, Suspira from Norway, Manos Libres and Arosa Ensemble from Finland, the producer himself and the newcomer of the pack with her debut release, Bea Aino, aged 12.
A massive 15 track album, this release truly blends all styles and ideas of electronic music, while still staying cohesive under the retro nostalgia they all envelop. Across The Globe (feat. Jackson Whalan) kickstarts the album off to a rowdy star with glitch hop goodness and rap, acid bass and funky breakbeats throughout with a high energy banger.
G’s n Things keeps the glitchy funk and leans more into the breakbeats and the retro influences, truly sounding like a soundtrack to a heist movie. Metaphor (feat. Suspira and Bea Aino) continues the breakbeats but adds beautiful catchy female vocals, this one will get stuck in your head and is another perfect movie soundtrack and teleports us back in time.
Sjuka Dagar Revisited (feat. Arosa Ensemble) picks up the BPM and is a funky drum & bass track with live horns and synths filling the soundscape, beautiful vocals from Arosa and a fast pace hard to not move to. Just A Hack has repetitive AI vocals and is a fun stab at META and social media, truly reminding us of Knife Party’s Internet Friends in the best way possible.
Carbon brings in a four on the floor house beat and funky bass and old school synths that instantly teleport us into a Tron world. Point Blank is another high energy drum & bass track full of cinematic builds and high energy that is ready to get the dancefloor moving. Pixels To Eternity (feat. Manos Libres) slows down the tempo for a laidback groove with Manos on the vocals with wet bass and a slow breakbeat groove to nod along to.
Back To The Future is the funkiest track on the album and is full of classic retro synths and catchy vocoder lyrics from the classic track “Time” from Pink Floyd, truly bringing us back to the future. Paradox has an epic build and brings in a four on the floor g-house drop with huge stabbing basses and truly brings us back to the early rave days.
Mirage brings back the breakbeat into a heavy banger that is impossible not to move to. Fade To Night opens with an epic arpeggiated synth into a perfect breakbeat flow and beautiful pads and keys, truly a track you need for a night-time drive. Chunky Bit Of Luck starts as a beautiful synth driven slow breaks track and quickly turns into a glitchy heavy anthem filled with horns and bass.
No Games is another more synth driven track that pulls back from the heavier styles and back to the funky roots of some of the first tracks on the release.
Made Up My Mind (feat. Manos Libres and Tim Duster) closes the album with beautiful piano and a laid back breakbeat groove full of live guitar and brass instruments, a perfect closing to the journey through KIWA’s sound.
Join KIWA and friends as we celebrate the release of the new album!
Dystopic Sci-fi is a collection of moods from a bygone era, before the digital revolution became a central part of our everyday lives. From funk, jazz and progressive rock to electro-funk, dance-punk, hip hop, breaks, industrial, big beat and drum & bass to name a few, the album was inspired by music of the late 20th century, which is also the reason it was produced using analog equipment.
Dystopic Sci-Fi will be released at the end of August on Gravitas Recordings (US).
LINEUP
KIWA
PHYSICS
GENKI
RADIO TAUNUS
NIPA
MOCCI
+ VJ SSUVEREENI
KIWA joins the Gravitas Recordings family July 7th with the first single off his massive album coming later in August. KIWA has been a veteran on sound design and electronic music over the past 2 decades and has released with more than 20 labels worldwide over his career. He has been laying low on music for the past two years perfecting his craft and wanting to bring something different into the current world of electronic music. A perfect blend of future and past, this full album is inspired by the music from the 70s-90s and was produced, mixed and mastered using analog equipment. These tracks were originally written between 2014 and 2022 and truly give us that nostalgic feel that we crave for in music.
“The idea and lyrics for ‘Just a Hack’ stemmed from frustration on social media, racism and hate speech, online abuse, disinformation, lack of data privacy and the despotic and indifferent corporations behind the social media services. The track is a humoristic take on the subject, but with the intent to make the listener think about a common problem we’re all too familiar with. It’s a love/hate relationship we’re too afraid to let go. It’s a global regression of solidarity that has ethically set us back decades and made intolerance acceptable again, only within a few years.” – Markku Louhio (KIWA)
Just A Hack opens with an AI female voice that immidiately gave us flashbacks to Knife Party’s ‘Internet Friends’ and early 2012 era EDM. A groovy breakbeat, retro synths and a driving bassline are introduced for a heavy hitting track teleporting us into a dystopian future. This track feels like a soundtrack to a retro movie or cyberpunk video game, and truly merges the past and futuristic sounds of electronic music. The AI voice hook continues through the track and KIWA builds a full cinematic experience with the use of extra synths and sound design. This one will get stuck in your head for days and we aren’t complaining!
If there’s one thing music can do in times like these, is to help you through them, give hope and good vibes. The Ikaros EP was designed for that purpose. The music and tone is more laid back, optimistic and airy than a typical KIWA track. Something I have wanted to add to my work for a long time now. It felt like this moment in time was the right one to try a different approach.
Sleepless is a collaboration with one of the Suomisoundi pioneers, my good friend Teemu Vihtahousu.
I hope this music finds you well and can transfer some of the positiveness I experienced when writing it. Stay safe & healthy!
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