Hiatus Kaiyote, have announced have announced their forthcoming release Mood Valiant, will drop on June 25th via Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune. The album is the follow up to the Australian outfit’s previous release Choose Your Weapon. The new project comes after being sampled on songs by The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z), Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, Chance The Rapper, and Drake—with whom Nai Palm collaborated on his Scorpion album. Along with the album news, comes the lead-single “Get Sun (feat. Arthur Verocai).”

The six year journey of the album originally began on the road, as they began to add new material to their live sets in while touring in support of Choose Your Weapon. By the fall of 2018, backing tracks had largely been laid, ready for Nai’s vocals. Then, during a brief swing through the U.S., Hiatus’s frontwoman was diagnosed with breast cancer. “That was a massive scare,” recalls Nai. Her mother’s death from the same disease was never far from her mind. Nai rushed back to Australia and into the hospital, where she underwent a life-saving mastectomy. As Nai recovered, the band turned back to their work with altered perspectives. Her lyrics, even those written before her illness, took on a prescient quality. It wasn’t until a trip to Rio de Janeiro in late-2019 to work with legendary Brazilian arranger Arthur Verocai on “Get Sun” that the vibe of the entire album shifted.

This is apparent in this first single Hiatus Kaiyote is sharing today, “Get Sun” featuring Arthur Verocai. The track came together during a session in Australia’s Byron Bay. “It was really exciting and fun to play at the time,” recalls Perrin Moss. The song took a transcontinental trip to finish. Perrin had introduced the band to the work of Brazilian arranger Arthur Verocai, whose self-titled 1970s album, Perrin says, “changed my world.”

Verocai agreed to add strings and horns and asked if the band would be attending the session in Rio de Janeiro. Nai Palm says: “We were like, ‘That would be amazing, but we could never afford it.’” The band eventually engineered a mini-tour to pay for the flights, and both the schlep and the expense ended up yielding a spiritual, tearful experience for the band— the kindness of Verocai and the alchemy of Brazil left them inspired to create two more tracks for the LP in an all-night session.

“When you think your life is going to be taken away from you, it makes you think about who you are,” Nai says. “I guess after the breast cancer scare I decided that I needed to prove to life that the offering I have is genuine. My only wish is to live and offer my experience of time and beauty.”

Hiatus Kaiyote
Mood Valiant
Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune

1. Flight Of The Tiger Lily
2. Sip Into Something Soft
3. Chivalry Is Not Dead
4. And We Go Gentle
5. Get Sun (feat. Arthur Verocai)
6. All The Words We Don’t Say
7. Hush Rattle
8. Rose Water
9. Red Room
10. Sparkle Tape Break Up
11. Stone Or Lavender
12. Blood And Marrow