he NYC-born singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist based mostly out of Toronto Kingo Halla (aka Henry Nozuka) proclaims his debut LP Empty Fingers will likely be launched on February 24, 2023.
A message from Kingo Halla:
“This album took about 2 years to make. I used to be impressed by a while I spent writing with Alex Sowinski of BadBadNotGood and witnessing BBNG within the studio in Toronto. I had just lately completed an indie-folk file underneath the title Henry Nozuka, and I made a decision to alter my path right into a extra Different-R&B / Soulful / Jazz path. I went with a brand new title for this album as a result of it appeared like a departure from my earlier work.
Kingo is my center title, and Halla is a nickname I bought rising up from my grandfather. On the time of writing and producing this album I used to be additionally actually exploring 70’s Brazilian Jazz (Arthur Verocai, João Gilberto, Gal Costa) lo-fi Hip Hop, (MF Doom), and Different R&B (Nick Hakim, Charlotte Day Wilson, River Tiber, Michael Kiwanuka).
I’ve at all times been a lover of older data and the sound of analogue gear and tape, so I used numerous tape machine processing, analogue gear, and classic devices within the recording and mixing course of. A fundamental collaboration on the file is with Felix Fox, who is an efficient good friend of mine and is now enjoying with the BBNG boys. We wrote and co-produced 3 of the songs on the file, and I feel he introduced a extremely contemporary and funky color to the file. I feel he pushed me out of my consolation zone and introduced a sound that blends numerous jazz, and hip hop into the file. (‘Mirage,’ ‘Carousel,’ ‘Lanterns’) Lastly, I am extremely grateful to have had my uncle, Mike Stern characteristic on this album.
Mike is a legendary guitarist and has impressed me deeply since I used to be a baby (Performed with Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker, and extra). He introduced his magic to the tune ‘Simply Breathe,’ and I am blown away to have had the chance to work with him. The album is a mirrored image of my expertise on earth and explores themes of existence, longing, spirituality, and objective in life.”
To accompany the announcement, Kingo Halla additionally shares a stunning music video for his debut single, “Water In The Rose.” “Water In The Rose” was launched in October of 2022 and has already earned Kingo Halla nods from fellow musicians, tastemakers, and DJs akin to BBC Radio 6’s Giles Peterson. All through Empty Fingers and on “Water In The Rose,” Kingo Halla fuses jazz, soul, and psychedelia into different R&B atmospheres that pair completely along with his silky clean falsetto vocals.
“‘Water within the Rose’ has two meanings.” explains Kingo Halla “I wrote it whereas I used to be away from my associate throughout covid. We each have been at school and touring was turning into increasingly more troublesome. We weren’t in a position to see one another for as much as 6 months. The tune got here to me after studying a poem about somebody who was making ready the entranceway for the return of their beloved. I discovered it to be strikingly lovely, and profound.
It’s the ache of separation, the longing of being distant from a beloved, and an expression of the tormented anguish that love can really feel at instances. By the writing course of, I noticed that it additionally grew to become about my reflection on life and a letter to the place I’ll go after this life.”
Watch the brand new music video right here: