Nazar’s name may have been new to many when it popped up in the tracklist for Kode9 and Burial’s Fabriclive 100 mix in September. Featured on that compilation was ‘Konvoy’, a bold club cut driven by colourful synths and banging, kuduro-referencing drums.
It features in its full form on Enclave, a new six-tracker from the Angolan producer which marks his debut for Hyperdub. Premiering above is another cut from that record, the Shannen SP-featuring ‘Airstrike’. Across almost five minutes, the track makes its mark with piercing sub-bass and low-slung, low-tempo tarraxo rhythms. Over that, Nazar recounts the stories of airstrikes endured by his family and many others in Angola during the civil war.
Nazar’s move into production began when he decided to return to Angola, having spent 14 years growing up in Belgium to escape the civil war in his native country, which ended in 2002. That part of Angola’s history feeds heavily into his music, which he describes as "rough kuduro"; the sound of guns cocking and air raid sirens are woven into the tracks that make up Enclave. Explaining his decision to invert the kuduro sound in this way, Nazar says "I couldn’t express my frustrations with what I was seeing on a daily basis and translate that uglier side, the existing kuduro was too upbeat."
Hyperdub will release Enclave on November 16. You can pre-order it here. Nazar will also feature at Hyperdub’s next Ø party at London’s Corsica Studios on November 14, alongside Jam City and DJ Haram. You can find more information on that here, and information on his November 16 appearance for Rotterdam’s Worm here.
