11 August 2023 - 0 Comments

After a nearly 2 year hiatus, Dr. Reknaw are back with fresh perspectives & ripe flavours, bringing us a 4-track EP entitled Portal.

In classic Dr. Reknaw fashion, the music is enchanting, enlightening, and saturated with feel good vibrations. Recorded mostly (all except the drums) at the two sisters home in South Taranaki New Zealand, from 2022 to 2023, throughout the pregnancy of Sophie's first baby and Julia's second. Sonically and lyrically the music dances with strong, elegant feminine power, and a kind of energy that could only be cultivated in conjunction with the most high. After the full & heavy hitting sounds of the 8-piece band Dr. Reknaw have formerly been known as, this rebirth of sound & spirit is stripped back and extremely refreshing.

“Our music & sound is definitely evolving to be more simplistic and raw; returning to the ways our music sounded at the very beginning when we first began writing together, but with more tasteful finesse,” Sophie

Julia and Sophie recorded the bass, keys, acoustic guitar and vocals in their home studio in Ōpunakē, and Jules Blewman’s hypnotic guitar playing was also recorded there. The eclectic mix of beats were recorded by Luther Hunt at the surgery studios in Wellington, and percussion tracked by CJ Hoppins (Serebii) in Auckland.

“A lot of the inspiration behind these songs came from an undeniable force to be unapologetically true (to others and ones self), and a calling to express as purely as possible. Thus we decided to keep the instruments simple and do as much (playing & recording) ourselves as we could, and we learnt a lot in the process. These songs really came from the heart, and from the beginning we had a clear vision of how we wanted the end result to feel to the listener.” Julia

Since the release of their EP Earthly Delights in 2019, and their debut album Rektified in 2020, all has been quiet on the Dr. Reknaw front, but the exciting new sound they are about to share will be well worth the wait for fans across the globe. Portal has 4 tracks, each mirroring the ambiance of each season. Slowly Rising the first single reflects spring, a hopeful rootsy song of uprising, of individual and collective growth.

Listen to Slowly Rising Here

In My Mind is summer, and is worldly and exciting, a song of fertility and full blossoming. Autumn is Healer, calling for gentleness and sensitivity, a dubby track quintessential to the Dr. Reknaw sound. Then Hearts Calling is a chilling, dark psychedelic soul/hip hop song, with an introspective message as winter. Throughout this EP you will feel spellbound by an earthly magic, and the divine sense of interconnectedness between nature and music.

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