FEELING BODY |debut ALBUM
Out on MArch 3rd, via cmntx records | pre-order on Bandcamp
Available on Digital & Limited Edition CASSETTE TAPE
This record was written after an extended period of illness (long COVID) in 2021, reflecting on how being sick suddenly gave an urgency to my understanding of the body I live in — suddenly seeing my body from the inside out, not the other way around. While writing this, I sought to share my physical and psychological experiences during the period of illness, as well as reflections in the period thereafter — I mark January 2022 as the end of my long-COVID (although there are some persistent, but manageable, aftereffects). In this record, I contend with this time that I became so aware of the body, and noting that even after, there’s a trauma of illness that remains within you, both in the physical places that it existed; and in the mind. However, in the first track, I foretell that I do get better, and in the final track, I confirm it. The music is not only about the pain and the weight accompanied with being sick; but it is about the appreciation of the body, and how it understands hope and patience before we ourselves believe it.
There is a lot to say about being sick, about being sick during a pandemic; about how the world treats you if you are sick for longer than “just a cold”. There is also a lot to say about feeling understood in online communities (I see you and appreciate you, r/longcovid) but not by doctors, and about how things change even when you get better. But I think this is a good place to stop. I am ever in awe of our bodies, and how they keep going, despite and in spite of all the pain we go through in life. In a way, this album is an expression of love, and gratitude, to my own.
Press & Reviews [Selected]
“The Kenyan composer folds field recordings, ambient textures, and layered vocalizations into a gripping meditation on illness and healing." — Pitchfork (7.7 rating)
“"Feeling Body feels viscerally vulnerable and is an important document of experiencing illness in a society that shies away from honesty about sickness.” — Bandcamp (Album of the Day, March 17th’s Essential Releases, The Best Albums of Winter 2023)
“Fusing avant-garde iconoclasm with modern classical and African influences, Nyokabi Kariũki’s debut album is both challenging and groundbreaking. Hauntingly meditative, it will utterly enchant you.” — Louder Than War
“Kariũki puts all of herself into FEELING BODY, and it's truly something special and really essential to hear." — Foxy Digitalis
*
More Interview & Features: Red Bull France (Feature), Joyzine, Crack Magazine (Mix), Music Radar (Interview)
Radio/Podcast: Tabs Out, New Sounds, the 2010s
Full Credits: Nyokabi Kariuki - voices (all tracks), clarinet (track 5), Yaz Lancaster - violin (track 1, 2, 4), voice (track 2), Michael Denis Ó Callaghan - trumpet (track 2, 3), Chris O’Leary drums (track 3), Ian Fales - double bass (track 6) / Recorded between Potomac, MD and Brooklyn, NY, Field recordings taken in Kirinyaga, Kenya (track 1), Potomac, MD (track 2), and Brooklyn, NY (track 3), and sourced online / Mixed by Noah Horowitz / Mastered by Dan Langa / Album Art by Serena Seshadri / Graphic Design by Alex Ring Gray. /feeling body (track) was supported through a commission by Falling Tree Productions Ltd for ‘Between the Ears: Miniatures’ for BBC Radio 3. / FEELING BODY (album) was partially supported by New Music USA’s Creator Development Fund in 2022-23./ Thank Yous: a heartfelt thank you to: Noah, Yaz and Michael, ru, Serena, all you awesome folk at cmntx, Lara, Nabalayo, Emmanuel, and my loving & supportive family.