23 August 2024 - 0 Comments

On her spellbinding debut EP, Aotearoa singer-songwriter-producer Frau Knotz shifts from danceable electropop to a seamless cinematic, otherworldly odyssey steeped in experimental retro-futurism.

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Consisting of seven different vignettes produced at home over two years, these post-pandemic snapshots were carefully re-ordered and fine-tuned at Rhythm Ace Studio within one week, resulting in a cohesive narrative through the continuous flow of music. The resulting Nextraterrestrial EP also contains a multimedia project, including seven animated videos sewn together to form a short film made by 3D graphic designer Halfofnothing that attempts to expand on the EP’s themes of futurism and the unknowability of life, the universe and the depths of the ocean.

Frau Knotz has taken a painterly composition approach with this offering, using genres as colours and textures on her tracks. Brush strokes of R&B, ambient, trip-hop, techno, experimental beats and spoken word have been daubed with discernment across this truly unique canvas. Textures dazzle with passion by Downbeat Mastering, bringing forth glitchy chip-tune and 808 kits, fat rumbling bass notes that punch as hard as they bounce, shimmering arpeggiation and an upright piano fed through muffled effects units intended as though heard underwater. Ramping up to a rollicking acid techno finale featuring a soaring Roland 303, Frau Knotz disappears in a flash, leaving the listener breathless at the finish line.

Carving a reputation for her shrewd idiosyncrasies, Frau Knotz is not afraid to expose all sides of her 3-dimensional self. Through the juxtaposition of home-produced MIDI instruments and vocal takes with vintage analog synthesizers, she allows us to peek at humble beginnings through a polished lens of studio finesse. Her vocals are just as elusive, delivered occasionally through the organic warmth of a 1950’s ribbon microphone, at other times presented with a deliberately detached vocaloid-like autotune, as well as downright de-tuned anonymity. This shapeshifting artist thrives in presenting the many voices that dwell within her; half-human, half-electronically enhanced.

Revealing the coming-of-age of Frau Knotz, her first significant body of work wields songs conceived just as often from the far reaches of her imagination as the lived depths of her heart, spun into an avant-garde, cinematic world where we can reach out and grab hold of Other Futures. Nextraterrestrial walks the tightrope between terror and euphoria, between the fictional and the unashamedly bold, the enigmatic and anthemic, the uplifting and the devastating.

To celebrate the release of Nextraterrestrial, Frau Knotz will be performing a live show at The Stomach in Palmerston North on 20 September with support from Synthetic Children and Just George. Tickets are available HERE.

Over the past four months, Frau Knotz has tantalised listeners with three enigmatic singles, all met with eager support from local and international media. Odyssey I has racked up almost 10,000 Spotify streams, Other Futures charted on the Top 20 NZ Hot Singles Chart and The Heart of Spring hit number 4 on the RDU FM Top 10.Together they featured across 95bFM, Radioactive FM, RDU FM, Radio One, The Most FM, Radio Control FM, The Hits, More FM, Access Radio, Under The Radar, NZ Musician Magazine, 13th Floor, 4ZZZ (Australia), Zone Nights (Argentina), Voxwave Magazine, Expansión Radial (Mexico) and reviewed by Flash-Trax.

No stranger to live performance, Frau Knotz’s festival highlights include opening for Beacon Bloom at the 2024 TSB Festival of Lights, performing at the 2023 Wellington Jazz Festival as a featured guest with the Other Futures Big Band and being selected by Barnaby Weir (The Black Seeds) for a curated show at TAFT's Spiegelfest. With exciting live show announcements upcoming, get ready; Frau Knotz vows to take you on a deep sonic odyssey through her 3-dimensional world.

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