Hiatus Kaiyote

Melbourne's multi-dimensional neo-soul outfit bring 'Choose Your Weapon' to Sydney.
Jessica Surman
Published on August 01, 2015

Overview

Off the back of the release of their second album Choose Your Weapon, Melbourne neo-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote are killing it this year. After wrapping up a sold-out tour around Europe and the US, they’re back on home turf and setting off around the country for a string of live shows playing their ‘multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic gangster shit’ (their words, but good ones) for local fans.

The group’s 2012 debut Tawk Tomahawk earned them props from people like Prince and Pharrell, and a Grammy nod for their collab with Q-Tip ‘Nakamarra’ — a first for an Australian R&B act. Always interesting, their sound is blissful funk with broad appeal — not least for the heady vocals of majestic frontwoman Nai Palm. It’s the kind of music that has seen them on a festival bill alongside Grace Jones and Massive Attack one night, and the next playing a small gig in Paris with a 70-year-old Ethiopian jazz composer.

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