Kong Fooey - Double Single Review: Believe Me & Giving Up On Love
Christchurch collective Kong Fooey comes across as a bit of an enigma.
Their 2015 album Final Destination offers a wide range of styles and influences, blending Funk, Hip Hop, and Electronic genres presented under a more traditional band unit of revolving contributors. Listening to the development of tracks on that album, dots can start to be joined as to the direction of future KF releases.
Kong Fooey is the brainchild of producer Jason Peters; no stranger to the music scene having been the drummer for grunge thrashers Pumpkinhead during the 90’s, and current stick man for Hunt The Witch. It’s no surprise then to see how Jason has gone on to develop throughout the years, picking up sounds and styles from a multitude of areas, backed by his foundations in knowing how to construct a solid beat.
Fast forward to the present day, it seems Mr Fooey is on a quest to seek further expansion of his productions, firstly by switching gears and releasing the Pop infused dance number Just For The Night midway through October and moves quickly to present latest singles Believe Me & Giving Up On Love in support of his next long player instalment expected mid-2019.
House’s influence crept back into mainstream airwaves around 2013; its bumpy bass-lines infecting music charts around the globe, and this release sits comfortably alongside the best of them; harking back to a more 90’s era of inspired sounds.
Believe Me features a perfect blend of Piano Roll styled stabs and UK Garage inspired vocal hits, backed up by a soulful vocal that propels the song along and oozes nostalgia. Its underground club aesthetic borderlines on becoming an instant classic and stands out as the more solid of the two. Perhaps a bit short for a dance track coming in at around 03:00mins, however it’s clear these tracks are destined for radio play and some extended mixes or remixes would be a wise move in aiding future club support.
Giving Up On Love has a more straight up, current pop feel, something you could easily expect to find on the charts from years past. It ticks all the boxes for what creates a catchy Pop-House number, but still manages to retain a sense of Deep House cool. A catchy Piano line sets things up during the halftime intro, and transitions into the main groove and breathy vocal hook via a snare-roll riser; excreting a glowing summer vibe throughout the remainder of the track.
About Kong Fooey
Looking for a new start after the chaos of the Christchurch earthquakes and working in a new direction musically he signed with Loop. Having crossed paths with Maitreya back in the '90s music scene, a chance meeting at Auckland's Ponsonby Food court led to Peters asking Maitreya to check out his new work, Maitreya dug the vibe and was happy to collaborate. "We have written around five tracks together and there is a mutual respect for each other's abilities and work ethic. I really want to produce music that not only grooves hard but has a positive and conscious message in the lyrics too, something Maitreya and Topaz both do very well," says Peters. Topaz (Jason's cousin also hailing from Christchurch) provides the yin to Kong Fooeys yang, a talented upcoming female MC who contributes positive and thought provoking vocals over Fooey's hyped up beats. Peters has been pleased with the positive reaction to first single 'Let Go' receiving excellent rotation on George, Kiwi and Mai FM. Kong Fooey recently played before 12,000 people warming up the Christchurch beer festival crowd before Supergroove took the stage, and then played a great show at Sounds on 2013 along side David Dallas and Home Brew.
A five track Kong Fooey EP is due to be released in 2013 along with an NZ on Air funded music video for 'Let Go'. With a debut album now in production Kong Fooey is a name you're definitely going to be hearing more of... and in case you were wondering about the name, it does come from the 1974 cartoon and the superhero pooch who uses martial arts to fight crime. Number one super fly and quicker than the human eye, Kong Fooey has got style, a groovy smile and a fight that just won't stop! Stay tuned...
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Kong Fooey
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