Listen/Watch: Jinja Safari - "Find My Way"

After releasing their debut full length self-titled record in 2013 (a record which has yet to enjoy a release further than their native Oz) and touring around it for much of the subsequent year, Jinja Safari entered a hiatus of sorts during which several of their members embarked on secondary musical adventures. Drummer Jacob Borg unearthed Berlin Bar Hounds, Marcus Azon teamed up with YesYou to form the much slicker pop outfit Cold Clinical Love, and co-frontman Pepa Knight out-paced his band members by releasing his debut Hypnotized Vol. 1 EP, a record which he was able to tour in support of several times before rejoining the rest of Jinja Safari for their much anticipated reunion.



With everyone's musical wanderlust more or less sated, Jinja Safari has returned with brand new single "Find My Way". While still employing much of the technicolor melodies Jinja Safari has built much of their tropical party pop around, there's hints of those other projects here - namely in Marcus Azon's more mainstream pop delivery on the verses. And yet with it's stratospheric swoops and positively resplendent harmonies in addition to it's assemblage of instruments, there's no doubt "Find My Way" is a Jinja Safari song through and through - a welcome addition to their catalog of eternal summer beach party folk pop. With it's first and oft repeated line of "Now I'll find my way back to you", "Find My Way" is a pretty apropos way to mark the band members re-invigorated return to each other and Jinja Safari's first new song in two years. Welcome back, Jinja Safari. You've got a whole lot of celebrating to do.

Get a sense of what hanging out with the globetrotting Aussies is like in their official video for the new single:

Pepa Knight - Hypnotized Vol. 1 (2014)

When I first discovered that Jinja Safari co-frontman/songwriter Pepa Knight was embarking upon a solo career, I could barely contain my excitement. Though he and songwriting partner Marcus Azon both draw from various regional musics, Knight is often the one manning the instruments procured from their travels - harmonium, sitar, reed flute, they all have a place in Knight's at home studio. Essentially what I expected from Knight's solo venture was more of the same with a wider array of instruments and Pepa Knight's first ever single "Rahh!" seemed to offer that up in spades.

It's not until you get into the nitty-gritty of Knight's debut solo EP Hypnotized Vol. 1 that you get a real sense of Knight as a solo artist. Beginning with the epononymous "Hypnotized" Knight commits heavily toward the album as a cohesive medium. Where "Rahh!" introduced us to Knight's solo effort by throwing fans and new listeners alike right into the deep end, "Hypnotized" takes a much more languid approach with a notable exception - like "Rahh!" or any of the other singles released ahead of the EP, Knight paints his songs in vibrant technicolor. Even with it's unfurling development, we're introduced to a bright, dynamic lushness before the first words are ever sung.

Without the full weight of Jinja Safari's five person manpower, Knight is freed up a bit for a much more subtler approach. The layering is carefully arranged, providing a sense of widescreen openness - reminiscent of the wide open plains Knight calls home in his native Central Coast, Australia. Similarly to Jinja Safari, it's easy to get lost in the immersive radiance of the album, swept along in the kaleidoscopic vision and diverse textural palette and not realize that in terms of actual songwriting, Knight has a unique but subdued voice. Pepa Knight takes not only what he's learned as a band member and intrepid world traveler but also as an adult human being for lyrics that stripped free of their resplendent poppy dressings are quite affecting. Each song builds on the idea of coming into your own and it's a theme that's given as much time to gestate as it does to actually do so - with album tracks substituting for years. "Do you feel alive?" Knight posits in "Hypnotized" before offering answers in each subsequent track from the subtle ("Fortress", "The Desert Guide") to the extreme ("Rahh!", "Clams").

Pepa Knight's debut solo EP Hypnotized Vol.1 is available on cassette, limited edition 12" vinyl as part of a deluxe bundle, or digitally through Knight's website or via the standard digital retailers. You can stream the album here: