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Premiere: Juno Mamba pushes his limits with new single 1996, announces new EP
The Melbourne-based musician's new single uses vocals for the first time, and comes ahead of a sophomore EP arriving in mid-June.
Posted By Hayden Davies
4 years ago
Header image by Willhelm Phillipp.
Melbourne-based producer Juno Mamba is amongst the most brilliant names of Australia's dance music space, even if the project was something that only emerged in the last few years. While working alongside other esteemed acts in the electronic space, Vinci Andanar - the brain behind the Juno Mamba - was tinkering away with music of his own, launching the solo production project with his debut single Flicker back in 2019.
Since then, however, the Juno Mamba project has blossomed into a source of experimental, creative release for the musician; a space for him to delve into the depths of the club world and create something that stands tall amongst the saturation of Australian dance music, rich with the charm and technicalities that he strives for with his work. It's something that's been front and centre over the work he's littered throughout the time since Flicker, with singles and a debut EP - Light Echoes - capturing the heart of his sound at its most versatile and wide-ranging, from the strobe-flickering thumpers to the moments a little more soft and cinematic.
His new single 1996 - which premieres on Pilerats today ahead of its full release tomorrow, April 28th - is a single that amplifies both sides of this divide, all within the same four minutes. It begins drawn-out and longing, with ANTONMOND gifting Juno with a chanting and nostalgic vocal that marks the welcomes Juno's first vocal-led track, in a leap that often's important - even defining, sometimes - for producers who typically leave in the solely instrumental world.
1996 revolves around this vocal, with its commanding spirit reflecting on snapshots of the past in the same way that Juno Mamba's production revolves around it, calling to the sound of mid-90s dance music pioneers - The Chemical Brothers, Orbital - with its almost-acidic edge. It's nostalgic to rave culture but in a way that revives it and brings it forward to 2021, taking the rough-around-the-edges abrasiveness of the era and twisting it with Juno's distinct and forward-thinking sound, in a way to create something that hits with the same emphasis, but without sounding dated in the slightest.
"I can remember that year vividly… because of the Atlanta Olympic Games and it was right around the time I started learning piano from mum," reflects Vinci Andanar on the period in which the single is dedicated to. " have a lot of happy and naive memories but looking back, there were also a lot of difficult moments trying to fit in culturally (within Australia). I was lucky to work with ANTONMOND who was able to deliver powerful lyrics that painted these moments for me as a kid."
It's a special moment for Juno as both a musician and a person, made even more special with its coinciding announcement of his forthcoming Freedom EP, scheduled for release via SOOTHSAYER on June 11th. Also featuring the recently-released Siargao Dreams, the Freedom EP is bound to further Juno's sound, and we're excited to see how he continues to grow and evolve in the context of the EP. In the meantime, however, take a dive into 1996 below, as it premieres on Pilerats today:
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