Halfway through one of Theo Parrish’s sets at his London residency it became apparent that he was frustrated, most probably because the atmosphere had nosedived and the crowd were near-enough stagnant. So… In a rare expression of sympathy, Theo’s warp-speed Jazz digression faded away, and after a brief pause the warm chords of Flying Lotus’ ‘Tea Leaf Dancers’ emerged to the relief of the Parrish faithful.
True, this particular track was a timely precursor to the contemporary beat revolution, and granted, FlyLo’s beat was nuts. But it was that ghostly vocal, courtesy of Andreya Triana, which made the track complete and left me eager to hear more from her.
‘Tea Leaf Dancers’ came out in 2006, a by-product of valuable time spent at the Red Bull Music Academy in Australia. Since then, Andreya has been busy expanding her musical portfolio and fostering her talent all over the shop, whether she was touring America & Canada with Bonobo, impressing audiences worldwide with her ‘Freeflo’ sessions aided only by a loopbox and a microphone, not to mention making an appearance at Glastonbury. All of this hard work has clearly not gone unnoticed. Ninja Tune have signed the South-London born singer to a triple-album deal, the first of which is going to be produced by label cohort Si Green, aka Bonobo…
‘Lost Where I Belong’ is the name given to the debut LP (due May 2010) and judging by the title track and indeed the video below, who could deny that the combination of Andreya’s gorgeous vocals and Bonobo’s musical workmanship is a strong one. Sure enough, the resulting album is a departure from the sample-laden bleep excursions that many forward-thinking contemporary producers are pushing. But this is where Lost Where I Belong’ sets itself apart. It is an album that is refreshing exactly because of its traditional approach, comfortably taking pride in a sound that blends live instruments, earnest words and colourful melodies.
What you need to know:
- ‘Lost Where I Belong’ is due out mid 2010 - the title-track will be released as a single this Autumn with a Flying Lotus remix on the flip.
- You can keep up to date with her at www.myspace.com/andreyatriana and also see her Glastonbury performance at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/artists/andreyatriana/
- You can watch her new video below but also check out previous single ‘The Keeper’
