Since 2013, Polynesian / Parisian outfit QuinzeQuinze has been shaping their own “climatic” music, for lack of an existing category adapted to encompass the inconsistent nature of their creative approach. Today, Ennio, Julia, Marvin, Robin and Tsi Min go down a little deeper into the volcanic well from which emerges the flaming power of their musical, visual and narrative triptych. It’s from this same incandescence they have drawn the energy needed for the creation of this new project entitled VĀRUA EP.
Flaunting their experimental flair, they’ve shared the EP’s elasticated and ethereal lead single Le Bleu. Speaking on the track, the band says:
Between dreams and reality, you enjoy life without regret and you die without fear. Blue is both celestial melancholy and an ode to emptiness…
Vārua, which means soul or spirit in Tahitian, was an illuminated choice: the notion, which is deeply anchored in the Polynesian heritage (that two members of the band share), gives the entire project its raison d’être.
The same Vārua is also the root of the word Vārua’ino, designating both evil spirits and celestial phenomena (thunder, rain, meteorites and rainbows), then shedding a new light on the true essence of this new EP.
Its changing nature naturally encourages the connection between the tracks and the variety of genres they conjure. Here, one can sense the presence of the Southern and Northern American, Caribbean, Afro-Portuguese, or English scenes. And there, one can hear R&B, trip-hop along with experimental electronics or dancehall sonorities. The whole project articulates itself around a DNA formed by traditional percussive instruments (to’ere, steel drum) and Ori deck – a bravado carried by the young Tahitian underground scene and ancestral ōrero (Polynesian oratory art).