Brand new Bristol / Berlin based alt-pop duo Riah Lick Your Wounds are pleased to announce their debut self-titled EP out now.
Channeling hints of jazz, soul, hiphop and electronica over Riah’s meditative, haunting vocal delivery. The duo say: “The texture we aimed to create was inspired by something that was said by Russell Elevado, the engineer who worked on acclaimed neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop records in the 90s including D’Angelo’s Voodoo album. When speaking on Voodoo he said that he wanted to create something that sounded like it was off an old, dusty cassette tape from the 70s that had been completely forgotten about but had all this amazing music on it that nobody knew about. I liked that idea and wanted to try and make something that sounded like a lost tape from some unknown time, perhaps in the future, perhaps the past, that had somehow found its way here to the present day to be plugged in by an unsuspecting listener.”
Riah Lick Your Wounds is the coming together of childhood friends, Bristol based producer and pianist Lickya Wounds (George Fellows) and Berlin based singer-songwriter Riah Knight. Last seen as shy teens left to chat awkwardly at family parties, Riah and George avoided the small talk by playing music. Their debut project is the amalgamation of those sessions spent playing together and has been produced over the last two years from their respective homes. Their EP has taken on an intergalactic sound, as it travels seamlessly between classic Jazz vocals, Hip-Hop beats and electronic production, reminiscent of the early works of Little Dragon or Hiatus Kaiyote. The sound imitates that of a lost tape that fell to earth from the future; warped, buried, dug up and plugged in.
This self-titled EP is a three track release with one short interlude. The opening track ‘Indigo’ is a dreamy journey through a sea of synthesisers and soul vocals, jazzy ambience and sub-bass. ‘Bodies Formed’ is characterized by its soulful hip-hop groove reminiscent of J Dilla and its evocative lyrics weaving a story of the early days of romance in the city. The final track, ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ aims to put this classic ballad into a new form, accenting on its original themes of “moon” and “stars” to lure the listener up into the blackness of space.
Riah explains: “One of the first songs we played together was ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ so it felt right to pay homage to those early sessions and do a version of it on this release. It’s still one of my favourite songs and I love Lickya Wounds latin twist on it. We really had fun on the production of this one and it gave the song a whole new meaning to me.”
Riah Knight
Born in 1996 to activist parents and named after her Romani great-grandmother, Riah grew up in the rural countryside but spent much of her early life travelling and attending world music festivals. Sighting a broad range of influences, Riah’s music is characterized by her evocative lyrics and laidback sultry vocals, incorporating jazz harmony and a twist of folk, her soulful voice takes you on a journey across continents and young heartbreak.
Riah made her first breakthrough appearances opening for both Jimmy Webb and Portico Quartet while resident artist at the London Roundhouse in 2017. Following these early successes, Riah continued to write music while also working with Just Jack on two of his albums. While just finding her feet in the UK music world, at the age of twenty Riah relocated her life to Berlin to work on a groundbreaking theatre project exploring the politics of Roma identity in Europe, which led her to work with director Yael Ronen on a series of productions at The Maxim Gorki Theatre. In between rehearsals and tours across Europe, Riah started writing for film and also recorded and released collaborations with several hip hop and jazz artists in Berlin and back in the UK. Her debut single ‘Knight in Neukölln’, was described as ‘a gem’ by Jazz News Paris, and was released with independent Berlin label Get Together in 2021.
https://www.instagram.com/riah.knight/ https://www.riahknight.com/
Lickya Wounds
This is the first major release from Bristol based producer Lickya Wounds. Be sure to keep an eye out for more coming from him in the near future in the form of jazzy electronica.
https://www.instagram.com/riahlickyourwounds/
https://www.instagram.com/riah.knight/