Mara TK, a golden voiced, Maori-Scottish world-wandering citizen of Aotearoa, New Zealand announces his debut single ‘Met At The River’, released 20th November on Extra Soul Perception. Stepping out on his own, Mara TK is the former frontman of the acclaimed Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle.

Opening with the beautiful honey-toned vocals of Kenyan R&B singer and songwriter (Teyana Taylor) Xenia Manasseh over delicate piano chords, the track flips into a neo soul jam as the pair’s vocals melt together. The Double A-side single also features a solo version of Mara himself, speaking about the track Mara TK explains “This song took ten years to write because that was the life span of meeting someone wonderful, making babies and then fucking it all up - and finally feeling like you are all gonna be straight after all that shit. This song was therapy that didn’t cost me $200 an hour”.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy, Tortonto Mara TK’s work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him work with critically lauded names including Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J- Dilla collaborator  Waajeed, and UK vocalist and producer Steve Spacek to name a few.

A new signee to innovative London based label Extra Soul Perception, ‘Met At The River’ is the first single to be taken from Mara TK’s debut album, due for release in 2021 on ESP. Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that  started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.

Mara TK ft Xenia Manasseh - Met at the River

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform which started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda, and continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. In November 2019, eight artists from Kenya, Uganda and the UK spent a week in Nairobi together exploring new tangents in soul music, the result was their 2020 debut EP ‘New Tangents In Kampala, London & Nairobi Vol. 1’.

The collective was made up of Faizal Mostrixx (UG), Hibotep (UG), K15 (UK), Karun (KE), Labdi (KE), Lex Amor (UK), Lynda Dawn (UK) and Maxwell Owen (UK). Now with the with the addition of Itsmdnyt (UG), XL Middleton (US), Xenia Menasseh (KE), Sola and Azu Tiwaline (TUN), the collective are preparing to release their album ‘New Tangents in Kampala, London and Nairobi’, released 25th March.

Having started life in 2019 at a writing camp in Nairobi, the album was completed remotely over course of the worldwide lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Innovators in their own fields, each artist brings unique knowledge and musical culture to the project. Collectively they represent a broad spectrum of sound, each with a unique understanding of the power of soul music in its many forms. The album reflects this via an inspiring mixture of beautiful soul, glitchy beats, spoken word and bumping instrumentals.

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New Tangents In Kampala, London and Nairobi

Pre-order the album with 3 instant downloads: https://maratk.bandcamp.com/album/bad-meditation

Mara TK, a golden voiced, Maori-Scottish world-wandering citizen of Aotearoa (New Zealand) announces his debut solo album ‘Bad Meditation’, released 7th May on Extra Soul Perception. Stepping out on his own, Mara TK is the former frontman of the acclaimed Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle. Written and produced by Mara himself, ‘Bad Meditation’ is his 13 track opus, a deeply personal account of heritage, love, loss and healing.

Mara shares  ‘Highly Medicated'  the single follows previous release ‘Met At The River’, which featured the vocals of Kenyan singer and songwriter Xenia Manasseh.

On the melancholic lament ‘Highly Medicated’, Mara opens up about his journey to heal following the death of his grandfather, who was his link to traditional customs in Aotearoa.

Mara explains “I tried everything to plug up the void and eventually I shut everyone out and I was finally alone. I takoto tūpāpaku au. I would put on videos of the old people here talking - interviews with my elders. They said ‘Love yourself, forgive yourself. This is where you start.’ and that’s been the best medication I’ve had so far”.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK’s work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.

Bad Meditation

Mara TK - Highly Medicated [Clip]

This Spring sees the highly anticipated return of Mara TK, the golden voiced singer of the Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle. While EWH’s globally acclaimed career has seen this Māori-Scottish singer wonder all across the world, with his debut solo album ‘Bad Meditation’ he is returning to deeply personal topics about his home in Aotearoa (or long white cloud, the Māori name for New Zealand). The third single and the album’s title track is released 9th April.

Electric Wire Hustle released three critically revered albums released over seven years with their final output being ‘The 11th Sky’ came in 2016 across which time they grew a devoted following.

In the five years since then, Mara TK has been on a journey of musical self-discovery, as he says; “writing this album has been a form of therapy over the last few years trying to figure out what kind of music I wanted to make next”. The result, ‘Bad Meditation’, is his thirteen-track magnum opus, written and produced by Mara himself.

Speaking of the process of making the album he says; “I was offered what was basically a whole studio worth of gear from a friend who was moving overseas. I took a gamble and bought that gear and have spent the last five years learning how to use this shit. I had to bet on my own ability to learn new things so it was scary, but also keep in mind that music, like any other creative form doesn’t have to be perfect - the brush strokes don’t have to be exactly straight”.

‘Bad Meditation’ is an account of love, loss, healing and the story of Mara’s Māori heritage. As he explains; “Growing up poor, everything goes through our indigenous lens. Here in Aotearoa we have our own Gods, our own values our own ways of speaking that are different to the colonial/capitalist culture”.

This sentiment is carried through on the groove of ‘Grew Up Inna Chaos’ and the storytelling on previous single, melancholic lament, ‘Highly Medicated’, which sees Mara open up about his journey to heal following the death of his grandfather, who was his link to traditional customs in Aotearoa. Current single ‘Bad Meditation’ and ‘Colours’ are filled with layered harmonies, while the influence of Mara’s father, psychedelic rock guitarist Billy TK, seeps through. Features on the album include Kenyan R&B singer and songwriter Xenia Manasseh on ‘Met At The River’ and Māori musician Troy Kingi on the Boris Gardiner inspired ‘Every Hori Is A Star’.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK’s work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more.

Mara TK - Bad Meditation [Clip]

This Spring sees the highly anticipated return of Mara TK, the golden voiced singer of the Kiwi future soul trio Electric Wire Hustle. While EWH’s globally acclaimed career has seen this Māori-Scottish singer wonder all across the world, with his debut solo album ‘Bad Meditation’ he is returning to deeply personal topics about his home in Aotearoa (or long white cloud, the Māori name for New Zealand). The third single and the album’s title track is released 9th April.

Electric Wire Hustle released three critically revered albums released over seven years with their final output being ‘The 11th Sky’ came in 2016 across which time they grew a devoted following.

In the five years since then, Mara TK has been on a journey of musical self-discovery, as he says; “writing this album has been a form of therapy over the last few years trying to figure out what kind of music I wanted to make next”. The result, ‘Bad Meditation’, is his thirteen-track magnum opus, written and produced by Mara himself.

Speaking of the process of making the album he says; “I was offered what was basically a whole studio worth of gear from a friend who was moving overseas. I took a gamble and bought that gear and have spent the last five years learning how to use this shit. I had to bet on my own ability to learn new things so it was scary, but also keep in mind that music, like any other creative form doesn’t have to be perfect - the brush strokes don’t have to be exactly straight”.

‘Bad Meditation’ is an account of love, loss, healing and the story of Mara’s Māori heritage. As he explains; “Growing up poor, everything goes through our indigenous lens. Here in Aotearoa we have our own Gods, our own values our own ways of speaking that are different to the colonial/capitalist culture”.

This sentiment is carried through on the groove of ‘Grew Up Inna Chaos’ and the storytelling on previous single, melancholic lament, ‘Highly Medicated’, which sees Mara open up about his journey to heal following the death of his grandfather, who was his link to traditional customs in Aotearoa. Current single ‘Bad Meditation’ and ‘Colours’ are filled with layered harmonies, while the influence of Mara’s father, psychedelic rock guitarist Billy TK, seeps through. Features on the album include Kenyan R&B singer and songwriter Xenia Manasseh on ‘Met At The River’ and Māori musician Troy Kingi on the Boris Gardiner inspired ‘Every Hori Is A Star’.

An alumnus of Red Music Academy in Toronto, Mara TK’s work beyond Electric Wire Hustle has seen him collaborate with critically lauded names including Om’Mas Keith of Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Detroit producer and J Dilla collaborator Waajeed, and Steve Spacek.

Extra Soul Perception is a collaboration and community music platform that started life between the UK, Kenya and Uganda but is now continuing to grow and connect independent musicians worldwide. Now with Mara TK added to the roster, Extra Soul Perception has released music by Lex Amor, K15, Maxwell Owin, Lynda Dawn, Hibotep, Karun, Labdi, Faizal Mostrixx and more. 
credits

Mara TK - Grew Up Inna Chaos Feat. 2MY - [Clip]

C2) Lex Amor, Hibotep   Faizal Mostrixx - Ancestry

B2) Sola   Labdi - Nanae

B1) Maxwell Owin   Xenia Manasseh Feat. Joe Armon - Jones - Probably Never

A3) Lynda Dawn   XL Middleton - Roses

A2) K15, Lex Amor   Karun - Hold On

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A1) K15   Labdi - Utokapo

Paddy Fred album mastered

The first single from multi-national project, Extra Soul Perception, that assembles a soulful supergroup of artists from the UK, Kenya and Uganda, making an album in Kenya. 

Nyege Nyege Festival favourite Faizal Mostrixx collaborates with BET-nominated Kenyan singer Karun on 'In My Soul', for the first time she raps in her native Swahili on record. As if Obongjayar had been processed through a Hyperdub filter. 

The new tracks made in Kenya will be performed for the first time on the ESP. UK tour. 

22 Feb - The Jazz Cafe, London
23 Feb - Band on the Wall, Manchester
24 Feb - 24 Kitchen St, Liverpool

Grab tickets: https://extrasoulperception.com/Tour-1

Faizal Mostrixx & Karun - In My Soul [3:59]

In November 2019, eight artists from Kenya, Uganda and the UK spent a week in Nairobi together exploring new tangents in soul music.

The group, collectively known as Extra Soul Perception, is made up of Faizal Mostrixx (Ug), Hibotep (Ug), K15 (UK), Karun (Ke), Labdi (Ke), Lex Amor (UK), Lynda Dawn (UK) and Maxwell Owen (UK).

Every day of the writing camp they worked with a new combination of artists, putting their powers of improvisation and collaboration to the test. The result was a body of work that reflected their range of backgrounds, interests and disciplines: acapella harmonies, soft spoken word, transcendental gqom, razor sharp swahili rap, bumping broken beat and beguiling RnB. The tracks capture a spirit, unique to a place and time that won’t be replicated again; an energy and atmosphere forged by open minds and prodigious talent.

The first EP of music made in Nairobi will be released in Spring 2020, titled New Tangents in Kampala, London & Nairobi Vol.1. It features five tracks by all eight artists in different combinations, and three cameos.

A1 Lex Amor, Hibotep & Faizal Mostrixx -Ancestry
A2 Maxwell Owin & Xenia Manasseh feat. Joe Armon-Jones - Probably Never
A3 Lynda Dawn & Bes Kept - Roses
B1 Faizal Mostrixx & Karun - In My Soul
B2 K15 & Labdi - Utokapo

Leading the EP out is first single ‘Probably Never’, by London DJ and producer Maxwell Owin with Nairobi singer Xenia Menasseh, featuring pianist Joe Armon-Jones. The track was born out of a series of improvised moments that epitomises the spirit of ESP. A low-slung gospel-sampling beat Max was playing around with late at night with no real purpose, whispered lyrics laid down in minutes on the final day in the studio during an unplanned-but-welcome cameo, and keys added by a supportive housemate as it was being finished in London.

It followers EP teaser ‘In My Soul’, released earlier this month featuring Kampala dancer and producer Faizal Mostrixx with Nairobi singer Karun rapping in Swahili for the first time; as if Obongjayar had been processed through a Hyperdub filter.

All five tracks from the EP will be performed live for the first time on the ESP. tour, featuring all eight artists performing solo and collaborative sets:

22 Feb: The Jazz Cafe, London
23 Feb: Band on the Wall, Manchester
24 Feb: 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool

Tickets and info about the project: www.extrasoulperception.com

ESP. is supported by British Council, Arts Council England and Analogue Foundation.

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