EP Review: A L’Aube

What an absolute pleasure to dip my toes into the cool water beneath the pier with TUi MAMAKi, and listen to her beautifully immersive EP A L’Aube. The title track is described by TUi MAMAKi as “inspired by a dream in which I met my animus : we sat together on a pier and, feeling no need to speak, played music til dawn.” And never before have I heard an electric guitar sound like the actual surface of the water. The song beautifully captures the dream and it’s visual imagery by some kind of synesthetic magic.

With lyrics in French, English and Bulgarian, and an Eastern flavour in the vocal melodies and techniques, I was completely transported by this music and her unique style. True to TUI MAMAKi’s dream, music truly is the universal language and can communicate so much, even when the lyrics are in another language.

Then I realised that this EP is kind-of a big deal, as it was created by Conrad Wedde (The Phoenix Foundation) who hosted, recorded & produced the tracks, and was mixed & mastered by Lee Prebble (Surgery). It is a beautiful collection of music, with, I believe, some of the songs pre-written while others described as Traditional / Improvised. It has been beautifully captured in its raw and authentic style.

TUi MAMAKi was born in France and raised in Aotearoa/NZ and has lived in Bulgaria. She has travelled to the Balkans, India and Pay Basque in order to study traditional vocal techniques, and these influences certainly shine through in her original compositions and delivery of them. Her vocal style is truly captivating.

She released her solo album Fly in 2018 and has released 3 albums in total with The Mamaku Project. TUi MAMAKi has also collaborated with Kottarashky (BG) and Piers Faccini (UK/FR) and founded the Balkan inspired acapella trio ACAPOLLiNATIONS. She was set to perform at WOMAD this year but sadly that has had to have been cancelled.

I would love to see this amazing artist perform live, as this EP is something quite different and beautiful, and of such a unique calibre. If you love international flavours and being transported to far-away times and places, then you will absolutely love this artist and album too.