Kuren cements his place in the Aussie electronic scene with his second EP of the year.
Award-winning producer, songwriter, and vocalist Kuren has unveiled his latest EP ‘Formula 5.’
Hailing from a small town in New South Wales, Kuren has evolved from being a self-taught producer to amassing over 10 million streams. He has toured with artists including Illy, PNAU, and Alison Wonderland and was nominated for Album Of The Year for the National Indigenous Music Awards 2018.
‘Formula 5’ sees Kuren channelling his personal experiences over his signature combination of electronica and rap. The EP draws on concepts of art, nature, and science and the way they interact in our daily lives.
With past projects reliant on feature vocalists, this year Kuren has stepped up to the mic. His compelling combination of emotive storytelling and melodic bars are a welcome addition to ‘Formula 5,’ sitting perfectly amongst contemporaries such as Allday and Illy.
This EP is consistently intense, featuring hard-hitting percussion and potent drops. The dark synths compliment Kuren’s navigation of a toxic relationship, that seems both at the centre of his universe and something he wants to escape.
‘Formula 5’ starts on a high with ‘In Your Thoughts.’ A distorted drop punctuates the track, as he asks his lover “can you take me away?”
‘Revolution 10,’ is a reflection on hardships with a powerful call to action. He declares, “for more, we stand tall, fight for retribution.”
The battle call continues on ‘RUN,’ where Kuren commands the listener to “run, move, fight.” His autotuned vocals resound over swelling synths akin to Flume.
‘Certified Queen’ and ‘Let it Fall’ are great examples of one of Kuren’s ability to create pockets of variation that keep listeners engaged throughout ‘Formula 5.’
Kuren lets the listener catch their breath at the start of ‘Certified Queen,’ with reverb-drenched xylophone building suspense before featuring one of the hardest drops on the EP. Following a similar blueprint on ‘Let it Fall,’ the 6-minute track alternates between ambient arpeggiated synths and breakbeat rhythms.
Kuren slows the pace on ‘Caterpillar,’ a soothing closer featuring organic percussive sounds. The instrumental track with echoing nature samples is a cinematic resolution to such a compelling EP.
2020 has been a productive time for Kuren, with ‘Formula 5’ being his second project of the year. This was a strategic move, as he is passionate about encouraging fellow artists to “increase the output.”
“The more they release the better they get and the better chance they have of gaining and connecting with fans,” he explains.
Listen to ‘Formula 5’ below
‘Formula 5’ is out now. For more from Kuren, follow him on Instagram
