There are odd-yet-fun rhythms on “Rosewater”, while “Red Room” is a bass and drum groove, which also feels like loungy chill music. “Get Sun” elicits a Destiny’s Child style ‘woooo’ early on, before Nai Palm croons in supported by jolty keys that both delight and cruise with waves of joy from the vocals. Hiatus Kaiyote’s sense of adventure and unpredictability has always been a feature and that shines on “Chivalry Is Not Dead”, as the track keeps the listener guessing at every turn. Third track and the latest single “Chivalry Is Not Dead” is a highlight, with Nai Palm bellowing “if I were a leopard slug”, as she amusingly sings about obscure animal mating rituals. The emotive strings on the brief intro track “Flight Of The Tiger Lily” sets the tone, before Nai Palm’s distinct and glorious vocals take over on “Sip Into Something Soft”. In the band’s album announcement, they claim Verocai “shifted the vibe of the entire album” with his overlay of strings and horn which are interspersed throughout, but most distinctly on single ‘Get Sun’.
Its release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but initial work on the album occurred during stints in the USA and Brazil, where they recorded with legendary arranger Arthur Verocai. All members had dabbled in solo work in the interval, before work on Mood Valiant commenced in 2018. Mood Valiant is Hiatus Kaiyote’s third album, after the success of 2013 debut Tawk Tomahawk and 2015 follow-up Choose Your Weapon which carved their own niche. The Melbourne four-piece are back with their first album in six years, titled Mood Valiant, after lead Naomi ‘Nai Palm’ Saalfield‘s mother who owned two valiant wagons, one white and one black, of which she’d choose to drive based on her mood at the time. Listen to and watch “Red Room” below, and stay tuned for more from Hiatus Kaiyote coming soon.Grammy Award-nominated Hiatus Kaiyote have long defied categorization with their jazz-funk-neo-soul-wondercore and their latest LP continues that, albeit as their most cohesive album yet. Of course, not knowing there was a big pandemic coming, the context of the ‘red room’ now and what that means to everyone sitting in isolation is kind of relevant.” We were warm, we were in another country. Perrin Moss, the band’s drummer, adds, “Essentially it was just having fun, man. According to bassist Paul Bender, it was the quickest thing the band had ever recorded from conception to finish. Similarly, the song came to be from an equally tranquil experience. When the sun set in my room at a certain hour my whole room was red.” Despite the colour red having more aggressive connotations, “Red Room” is a dreamy and relaxed jazz tune, with frontwoman Naomi Saalfield’s velvety smooth vocals leading the way. Speaking about how the new song “Red Room” came together Nai shares, “ My vocal booth had a red light in it, and I was thinking about my old house that had all this red-colored glass in it. Written in an act of spontaneous composition, “Red Room” was born out of a bass and drum groove by band members Paul Bender and Perrin Moss when the group went to Rio De Janeiro in 2019 to work with legendary Brazilian arranger Arthur Verocai, who features on their previously-released single “Get Sun.” Grammy-nominated, Melbourne-based group Hiatus Kaiyote shares a new song and video from their forthcoming album Mood Valiant, out June 25th via Brainfeeder Records / Ninja Tune.