JUNO MAMBA ANNOUNCES SOPHOMORE EP FREEDOM OUT FRIDAY 11 JUNE + RELEASES NEW SINGLE '1996 (FEAT. ANTONMOND)'
Photo Credit: Willhelm Phillipp
Today, Juno Mamba shares ‘1996 (feat. ANTONMOND)’, the EP’s lead single and the first Juno Mamba track to feature vocals.
Premiered yesterday via Pilerats, ‘1996’ is straight 90s rave at its finest and intended as a snapshot of Vinci’s childhood. He recalls, "I can remember that year vividly… because of the Atlanta Olympic Games and it was right around the time I started learning piano from mum. I have a lot of happy and naive memories but looking back, there were also a lot of difficult moments trying to fit in culturally (within Australia).” Vinci, exploring a new sonic palette, wanted to work with a vocalist on the track who could relate to his story but also interpret it in their own way. “I was lucky to work with ANTONMOND who was able to deliver powerful lyrics that painted these moments for me as a kid.”
Like an Antipodean nod to artists such as Underworld, Orbital and Chemical Brothers, the track balances heavy hitting rave production with a fist pumping vocal chant that serves as an elegiac ode to the power that memory can hold. ANTONMOND reels off evocative childhood memories (ala "The sound of thumping basketballs" because, Vinci points out with a laugh, "1996 was the year Kobe was drafted".) ‘1996’’s propulsive delivery is a happy throwback to 90s rave culture, with a nurturing spin that makes the track entirely Juno Mamba’s own.
LISTEN: '1996 (feat. ANTONMOND)' by Juno Mamba
Freedom is the follow-up to Juno Mamba’s highly acclaimed debut release Light Echoes, which was hailed as "expansive and unafraid to plunge the depths of human emotion". A layered and evocative suite that Juno has become synonymous with, Freedom revels in the possibilities and the release of creating art, while also exploring the personal heritage of Juno in a way he has not managed to before. "This music is a representation of the ebbs and flows of my evolution." An evolution it is… both musical and personal. A definite step up in production and sound, Freedom straddles the lines of textural yet emotive dance music.
The release of ‘1996’ follow’s March’s ‘Siargao Dreams’, which was featured as BBC Radio 1’s ‘Chillest Record’ before being added to rotation at Double J. Since the release of his debut EP Light Echoes, Juno Mamba has seen regular spins from Sian Eleri, Phill Taggart and Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 shows, KCRW, Reprezent Radio, triple j, FBi and Triple R, plus praise from Complex UK, The Ransom Note, ADSR Collective, Our Culture Mag, Stereofox and KALTBLUT. He’s also been championed by RÜFÜS DÜ SOL, Tchami, Qrion, Bob Moses, Lane 8 and Moullinex amongst others.
Packed to the brim with nostalgia and emotion, ‘1996 (feat. ANTONMOND)’ is an ode to ‘childhood dreaming’ and the cultural moments we hold on tight to during times of displacement.