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KAIS

Spotlight Feature: KAIS & Garrison Cade Created a Meditation in Ambient Old School Hip Hop with R.E.M. State

Posted on 30 May 2023

For his latest release, the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, KAIS, added an old-school hip-hop top-line to the beat of the standout instrumental single, R.E.M. State, which featured on his 2023 EP, What If I.

Collaborating with the rapper Garrison Cade, who has proven to be at the top of his game in his alt/indie band, Sam the Astronaut, which has taken Canada’s West Coast by storm, the two collaborators answered the question, what does it sound like when two powerhouses collide?

While we loved the artful ambience of the instrumental iteration for the temperate atmosphere that oscillated through our speakers, the hip-hop revival of the single reached the serendipitous pinnacle of visionary synergy.

With the verses flowing with the same transcendent philosophy as the intricate progressions, the reworking of R.E.M. State unravels as a meditation in authentically old-school ambient old-school hip-hop. KAIS & Cade couldn’t be derivative if they tried with their shared tenacity for versing and arranging melodies straight from the soul.

“R.E.M. State is the ‘Kaytranada – Bus Ride’ inspired track that started out as an instrumental on the ‘What If I’ EP released last February. A few ppl were asking for an old-school Hip-Hop top-line to the beat, and I thought Garrison Cade would make the perfect fit. Garrison is a talented rapper who also fronts ‘Sam the Astronaut’, a popular Canadian West Coast, Alternative/Indie band. I believe Garrison has the right pre-reqs for someone I could tour or perform a couple shows with at some point.”

Stream R.E.M State featuring Garrison Cade, which hit the airwaves on May 31st, via Spotify.

Follow KAIS on Facebook, and Instagram


Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: KAIS transcendentally reflects in his accessible Avant-Garde ambient EP, What If I

Posted on 3 February 2023

On February 3rd, the superlatively talented songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer KAIS will unveil his most experimental EP to date, What If I, as a departure from his indie-psych hits. Bar spoken word philosophical verses in the title single, the instrumental EP allows the dynamic instrumentals to set the tone, atmosphere, and sonic ideology.

The opening single, R.E.M. State, reaches the pinnacle of tranquillity as the lush reverb counters the visceralism of the trip-hop-y backbeats. Before track two, Honey Ripples, gives you an oceanic opportunity to slip away from the fray and enter a subaqueous paradise.

The concluding title single is a disarmingly poignant invitation into the psyche of KAIS. The spoken word verses compel you into matching the deep state of reflection while the experimentalism of the Avant-Garde rhythmically complex arrangement provides a serene atmosphere you will want to visit time and time again. The soulfully accommodating release is inexplicably unparalleled from what any other artist is putting into the ether.

The alchemic feat of audio engineering definitively proves KAIS’ ability to take phenomenological fragments and create sonically serene worlds from them. If I could permanently exist within them, I would take up perpetual residence in their artistic confines.

Kais Said:

“R.E.M. State is inspired by the absorbingly rejuvenating instrumentals in KAYTRANADA’s single, Bus Ride. I wanted to leave a mark on the canvas of mankind’s universe by flowing into rhythmically complex territory without becoming inaccessible to my audience.

Honey Ripples was written on a rainy day, envisioning how water droplets collide with the body of a lake before reflecting the impact through the warm and creamy honey texture of the Rhodes piano, also experimenting with dolphin samples to create an underwater soundscape haven.

What If I traverses themes of revival. The instrumental track with spoken vocals speaks from the dark abyss of mortal defeat. The protagonist weighs up letting his soul disintegrate or summoning an unforeseen strength to claw out of his pit to bring about his soul’s resuscitation.”

What If I will officially release on February 3rd. Check it out on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KAIS culminates a sense of hope in a disparate world with his Indie Psych Folk two-track release, Willow

Posted on 6 December 2022

With every new release from the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, KAIS, we know we are in store for two things, deeply intellectual yet accessibly resonant contexts, and a glimpse into a brand-new facet of his creativity. His latest two-track release, Willow, was no exception.

The opening single, Willow, is a defeatism-traversing intrinsically melancholic work, which utilises solemnly angular art-rock lead guitar lines to completely submerge you in the cold tones that exemplify the isolation and frustration over deceit. Regardless of the inspiration of the lyricism, Willow extends sentiments that will viscerally resonate with anyone feeling adrift by the contemporary times, which all too often leave silver linings out of sight.

The second single, On to Land, uses an extended prelude of ardently raw acoustic guitar strings, rhythmically hammering zealous emotion before the first word is spoken. After cavernous shimmering reverb crawls across the folky, sparse soundscape, there’s an interlude of silence before the melody picks up under KAIS’ vocals, which are fervid in their urgency to culminate a sense of hope in a disparate world. Closing on a turbulently psychedelic outro, you’re only human if you delve in for a repeat experience of the awakeningly affirming release.

Listen to Willow on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: KAIS is artfully transcendent in his new EP, Hot Air Balloon

Posted on 6 July 2022

The alt-90s are definitively alive in the latest EP from the multifacetedly talented artist and songwriter KAIS. From his studio in Cyprus, the award-winning and BBC-favourite artist delivered three melodic singles that toe the line between artful ingenuity and meditative transcendence.

The opening single, Horizon, carries reminiscences of BETA BAND, but via a 25-year wormhole with its languid guitar licks, groovy trip-hoppy drums and blissful boyband-style vocals.

Track two, Turning to Gold, is enough to throw you right back to the not-too-distant nostalgia of Doves’ There Goes the Fear with its lush, laid-back, bluesy laments and heartbreaking swoonsome melodies.

The final and eponymous track, Hot Air Balloon, boasts a more dynamic, choppy funk, which echoes The Bends era Radiohead via Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ more melodic syncopations.

Putting the context behind his singles, KAIS said

“Horizon is a Citizen Cope / David Gilmor-esque inspired ode to tapping into one’s inherent free spirit, which commonly unearths in the lovers’ bond. It paints an image of a man that once swam with his beloved in the magic of a summer night’s sea and attempts to reconnect with the ubiquitous “baby how’s your day?”

Turning to Gold is a hymn of lovers as they traverse life’s highs and lows. It reaches into metaphysical spheres while weighing on the fact that bliss cannot be found when one is merely dreaming.

Hot Air Balloon is a metaphor for pregnancy. As the process unfolds, whereby a spirit permeates and rises into the boundless world, a Hot Air Balloon rises into the ether (where our thoughts drift and amalgamate).”

If any contemporary can unwrite all the false premises of capitalist romanticism and affirm that the beauty of love and life lies in the simplest of moments, it is KAIS. He knows just how to bring his epiphanous concepts to life so that the sonic end result is just as mind-bending as his laureate-like revelations.

The Hot Air Balloon EP is now available to stream on Spotify, Bandcamp and YouTube.

Follow KAIS on Facebook & Instagram

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Drift into the ether with KAIS’ latest alt-indie-rock hit, Hot Air Balloon

Posted on 6 June 2022
https://soundcloud.com/kaismusic/hot-air-balloon/s-j3JsRKKZ1kt?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The Canadian, Cyprus-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, KAIS, has released his metaphorical alt-indie rock masterpiece, Hot Air Balloon, which uses the slightly archaic mode of transport as a parable to reflect the importance of persevering our mental space.

It takes some serious reading between the anthemic uplifting lines to pull out the protestive fire that any establishment would be desperate to put out through fear of it cutting profit margins that are boosted by dull hiveminds. On the flip side of that, texturally, Hot Air Balloon is a dreamy, kaleidoscopic blister of bliss, which is all too welcome in these easy to lament times.

Every time, KAIS breezes back even better than the last time we heard his exploratively introspective tracks, which still come with that A-list radio-ready appeal, despite the seemingly infinite depth.

Here is what he had to say about his latest release

“In some ways, Hot Air Balloon is a metaphor for pregnancy, inspired by the sequence of moving along and the process revealing itself, where a spirit permeates the boundless world, reflecting how a hot air balloon grows and rises into the ether, where our thoughts drift and amalgamate. The ether may be our final escape from those who manipulate us with vested interests in how we think and act.”

Hot Air Balloon will officially drop on June 6th, 2022. Hear it for yourselves on Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: KAIS is stripped-back and spiritual in his latest acoustic indie-soul-folk single, Healing

Posted on 12 January 2022
KAIS

KAIS bared his spiritual soul in his latest release Healing. The Canadian Cyprus-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer allowed his acoustic single to explore the deep significance of the messiness of our existence and our ability to clean up through bleeding, breathing and healing.

It is thanks to artists like KAIS, that the conversations around trauma have moved past idiomatic ignorance. Remember when we were all under the impression that PTSD existed solely in the minds of those that had experienced war? Thankfully, we now see it as a common experience; every ego-blow and mental scar imprinted leaves us with the option of carrying trauma or moving past it, and that is exactly what Healing forces you to reflect on. It’s enough to make you step in front of the mirror and check for scars that have been pushed into the subconscious.

With KAIS’ effortlessly artful vocals atop the acoustic guitar strings and nothing else to get in the way of the evocative impact of his lyrics that find a meta way to resonate as confessional, it is easily one of KAIS’ most powerful singles to date. As the perfect example, “fall from grace at god’s own pace I’m travelling through the fire, victim of desire” leaves so much more between the lines than your average lyrical confession for the way it alludes to the conflict between our situational emotion and desire.

For KAIS’ fans enamoured by his new venture into psychy indie-soul-folk, stay tuned for his upcoming EP that is due for release in February 2022. Healing was officially released on December 19th, 2021. It is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with KAIS to keep up to date on his new releases on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KAIS sends us back to the alt 90s with his psych-tinged indie track, ‘Spirit City Kiss’.

Posted on 14 May 2021

‘Spirit City Kiss’ is the latest single released by alt-indie-rock artist KAIS, the suitably sweet grungy tones are tinted with the nuances of psych-pop and swathes of alt 90s nostalgia. If Dinosaur Jr’s 2021 album didn’t hit the spot, the hazily over-driven tones in Spirit City Kiss definitely will.

Fans of Blur, The Charlatans, The Beatles and Dinosaur Jr alike will want to delve into the psychotropic soundscape inspired by the cities that make us feel home, even if our home is on the other side of the ocean. The dreamy reverb wraps around the subversive lyrics that may sound like your usual amorous tropes at first but if you read between the lines, you’ll find that KAIS has, once again, explored ubiquitous social dynamics and tapped into a relatively unexplored part of our consciousness that yearns for our spiritual homes.

Being no stranger to international travel, the Canadian, Jordan-born singer-songwriter and instrumentalist now finds himself residing in Cyprus, where he works out of his recording studio, Hot Soap Studios.

KAIS has been travelling the globe and gracing stages since the early 00s. In 2014, he took part in the Mayor of London Big Busk. In 2014, he graduated with a diploma in Music Production and Sound Engineering (Point Blank Music College). With a full band, he performed throughout Vancouver, Toronto, and Seattle in 2016 and 2017.

With an EP in the works and due for release later in 2021, you’ll want to save a spot on your radar.

Spirit City Kiss released on May 14th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KAIS has illuminated the airwaves with their sonically ensnaring Alt Rock track ‘Dark Side of the Light’

Posted on 12 November 2020

‘Dark Side of the Light’ is the latest single to be released from award-winning Middle Eastern Alt-Rock artist KAIS, who hasn’t just put his own name on the map, he was in the vanguard of pioneering artists who kickstarted the Indie Rock scene in Jordan.

Their latest single which dropped on November 11th, 2020 is a soul-laden intricate tonal tapestry, gently weaved together with elements of Indie Rock, Alt Rock and Psychedelic Soul.

With a conceptually meta approach to the lyricism, Dark Side of the Light hits just as hard lyrically as it does sonically. Without any overbearing literalism, Dark Side of the Light speaks of lost love and the longing which can cast us into the dark, making us all too aware of how love serves as the light while we’re left scorned in hindsight.

Lines such as “You know it’s a battle with sin” is a reminder that all relationships involve a battle against temptation. While “One side’s here to stay, one side’s gotta win” emphasizes the inescapable reality of romantic parallels.

The vulnerability in the lyrical admissions is lost to the volatility of the reverb-wrapped instrumentals which allow the sentiments to relay with resounding conviction.

You can listen to Dark Side of the Light which was recorded at KAIS’ recording studio, Hot Soap Studios, in Cyprus via Spotify

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

KAIS – Take Me Home: A Provocatively Tender Indie Rock Ballad for the Homesick

Posted on 16 October 2020

Indie artist KAIS has moved from strength to strength throughout their accoladed career, after quite literally putting their birthplace of Jordan on the map, they’ve started to garner plenty of International hype for their provocatively intuitive approach to production.

With every note placed to sting and draw emotion, their single “Take Me Home”, serves as the perfect introduction to the artist’s tenderly resolving sound.

With hints of Post Punk lingering in the progressive Indie Rock Ballad, there’s a chilling atmospheric air to Take Me Home which collides with the soft, reassuring vocals which use repetition of ‘take me home’ to quiescently emphasise the need to feel familiar ground beneath their feet.

If you’re not remotely teary by the outro, that has more to do with the state of your own soul rather than the talent of this truly exceptional artist who we’ll definitely be keeping on our radar to keep up to date with their progressively powerful aural prowess.

You can check out KAIS’ single Take Me Home for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast