Premiere: Blush'ko reunites with old friends for mafia-inspired single, Al Capone

With the dominance of the US and UK R&B worlds, you'd be excused in looking over what's happening back home. However, here in Australia, we've got an increasingly brilliant R&B world of our own, fuelled by names who may not be household-recognisable yet, but are well on there way to be something remarkably special. Melbourne-based musician Blush'ko is among these names, with a string of releases (including the 2018/2019-spanning Blush'ko in Love series), collaborations and live shows setting the cult-adored name up as a real threat to these dominative international names, at least in the years to come. 

It's not too hard to see what Blush'ko brings to the musical table to separate himself from the pack. In the spotlight, his collaborative nature has infused his woozy vocals with guests including Cazeaux O.S.L.O and Jordan Dennis, while appearances on records by London Topaz, The Aston Shuffle and plenty of others see his vocal morph into a perfect dance music accompaniment; his fleeting vocal contrasting perfectly against production that range from abrasive and heavy to light and subtle. Throw in a casual live show with Jhene Aiko or SG Lewis, and you have an incredibly well-rounded musician who in 2020, is ready for his time in the spotlight.

His new single, Al Capone, is a track that's going to help him get there. It sees Blush'ko unite his signature, dripping R&B with mannerisms plucked from hip-hop and flamenco alike, burrowing textures and intertwining them with his own to create something that sits apart from the rest of his work, but feels distinctly like Blush'ko; paving a bright future that's not too far off from his work in the past (which is important). Through licks of guitar and dancing rhythms, Al Capone is a track that's hard to come by in Australia, and Blush'ko is using this to his advantage, standing out from the crowd as he moves.

It's also a single that sees him reunite with a few close friends and past collaborators. Much of that flamenco-style guitar comes from Matthew Foudoulis, while JUJO adds to the production with his signature touch. Throw in Blush'ko's sweeping vocal and a jagged hip-hop edge from Jordan Dennis, and you have a well-rounded track that moves between sounds and styles, causing a stir as it goes.

"Alfonzo Capone was a moonshiner and gangster during the prohibition era in the early 1900s in Chicago," he says on the track. "The song is about giving someone the 'gangster experience'; there has always been that infatuation about the 'bad boy' and what it would be like to be with someone like that. The feel of the song is sensual but also has that 'mafia' to it, so we thought it fair to write about the fantasized romance of being with a gangster."

It's a brilliant time, and well worth a dive into as it premieres on Pilerats below, ahead of its full release this Wednesday, May 13th.

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