17 December 2013 - 0 Comments

MAMAKU – TWIGS OF GOLD
Album release date : 24th January 2014

The Mamaku Project's celebrated electro-organic sessions have crystallised into a compelling new album with a wide emotional spectrum, drawing on trip-hop, quirky grooves, and chanson.

The lush sound palette, organically electronic, carries tender vocals, broody harmony and rhythmic word.  Cinematic layers of altered guitar, flesh out driving analog-synth bass lines and stirring beats. Woodwinds, horns and conch shells adorn the compositions with luminous lines and inspired improvisations.  Dark yet playful, contemplative yet dynamic, this record, indebted to Aotearoa/NZ's soil and sea, offers songs of the moment with a truly global sensitivity.

The Mamaku Project was born of the meeting of two French Kiwi’s, Tui Mamaki and Monsieur E., both with a passion for music and travel. With one hand firmly in their roots and the other reaching into trans-cultural imaginings, the Mamaku Project have created a reputation for compelling musical performances, embracing elements of Chanson, Dub, Gypsy, World Electronica and Poetry.

Their engaging, evocative show has taken them to numerous arts and music festivals around the globe, including Aotearoa / New Zealand, where they are based, Australia, Korea, Canada and Europe. The pool of talented musicians working with them, shifts and morphs over the years, revealing different incarnations of the music but always true to their antipodean roots. Collaborations with contemporary dancers and video artists have furthered their theatrical exuberance.

Twigs of Gold features a stellar cast of players including, Will Scott (Sola Rosa) on drums, Gareth Priceless (Semi Lemon Cola, Dan Sperber Complex) on guitar, Kingsley Melhuish (Brassouls, Spargo) on conch shells and horns, Finn Scholes (Batucada Sound Machine, Carnivorous Plants Society) on trumpet, Oliver Emmit (Batucada Sound Machine, Bannerman) on trombone, John Ellis (Beyondensemble, The Jews Brothers Band) on percussion, Maxime Berton (Cataclysm Box, Paris, France) on saxophone and bass clarinet, and founding members, Monsieur E. on synthesisers, keyboards, beats, backing vocals and accordion, and Tui Mamaki on vocals.

The first single from Twigs of Gold entitled, Mardi Gras, is musically quirky and topically hot. Overtly denouncing the perils of modern capitalism, in its addiction to exponential growth and money, most often, through the exploitation of natural resources, Mardi Gras (pre-master) was leaked on the 23rd November 2013 as Song for Vega, in direct support of the Greenpeace yacht Vega, stationed off the west coast of New Zealand in protest against deep sea oil drilling.

The official music video, created by Lupavision is a hypnotic art piece in motion, conjuring images of Le Petit Prince on his planet, only this time, rather than star-gazing or watering his flowers, this personage consumes his own planet, until…

Watch the new Mardi Gras video here.

Twigs of Gold was recorded, mixed and produced by Monsieur E. at ShackdeLuxe Studios, and mastered by Angus McNaughton at Auralux. Album artwork by Tui Mamaki. Pressed at Stebbing, distributed in NZ by Rhythmethod, and in Europe and the Americas by Monkey Records.

Mamaku will be on tour this summer with Twigs of Gold, featuring live visuals by Lupavision.

MAMAKU ALBUM RELEASE TOUR DATES (NZ)

JAN 23 – NELSON Playhouse

JAN 25 – KAIKOURA Strawberry Tree

JAN 26 – CHRISTCHURCH Dux Live

JAN 29 – FOX GLACIER Cook Saddle


JAN 31 – MARAHAU Park Cafe


FEB 1 – TAKAKA Mussel Inn


FEB 2 – PICTON Le Café

FEB 3 - WELLINGTON The Laundry


FEB 8 – NEW PLYMOUTH Rhythm Bar

FEB 14 – COROMANDEL Tutti Frutti

FEB 22 – HAMILTON Gardens Summer Festival

FEB 28 – AUCKLAND Kings Arms

MAR 2 – WELLINGTON Newtown Festival

http://www.mamakuproject.com/

PRESS:

Colourful music, highly talented musicians…In the foreground there is the exquisite voice of Tui Mamaki…exciting and courageous, you will always hear new nuances… http://www.welt-musik.net/ (Germany)

Conjures up a nomadic past…exotic scales and jazzy improvisations are interwoven with familiar images of sand and sea in an impressive fusion, highlighted by Mamaki’s powerful, microtonal vocals. Nick Bollinger- The Sampler (NZ)

…Sprouting their own version of New Zealand song, taking in Pacifica, dub/reggae and jazz styles with a distinctly cinematic weave. A new national treasure - Simon Sweetman – North & South (NZ)

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