MONROE have clearly set out to make big first impressions with the release of their debut single Nature Calls.
Sit back and let MONROE take you on an incredible 5-minute journey which is sure to get you feeling all those feelings.
Nature Calls is the song you never knew you needed to hear, and MONROE are the band that are sure to creep their way in to your daily rotation.
Nature Calls kicks off with an indie-funk vibe reminiscent of bands like Ocean Alley and Sticky Fingers, but then takes a different turn which proves this group’s distinctive approach to music. The gradual build-up of Nature Calls catches you by surprise and by the end of the track you’ll be howling along with Kozo’s impeccable vocals. It is almost as though Nature Calls is a house with many rooms, nooks and crannies, urging you to explore it as it takes its many twists and turns.
Not only does the song boast significant skill instrumentally but also lyrically. Nature Calls holds significance in so many regards showing the bands ability to delve deep emotionally and culturally. The lyrics were written about two friends making a joint pact to build something for themselves and launch it out into the world, taking all their people along with them. For Kozo who co-wrote the track, Nature Calls is a love song addressed to his people. A statement about the track reads:
“Not only his friends and family, and not only Africans, but descendants of slavery and victims of colonialism around the world. For both of them, it’s about the brutalisation of the mind and emotional self that people suffer when they are either the victims or the beneficiaries of a history of violence.”
And not only will MONROE steal your heart with their easy-breezy excellence, but with a killer band formation story to boot.
MONROE formed when singer Kozo Mkhwanazi, the son of a Zulu South African anti-apartheid fighter, abandoned his life in Pretoria (South Africa), and turned up on Lincoln Ward’s doorstep with only his voice and his words. Lincoln, the godson of Grateful Dead sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley, took Kozo up to the Kimberley where they spent three months writing songs and living out of the back of Lincoln’s van. When they returned to Perth they recruited punk scene veteran Brendan Polain (Flame Trees, Yokohomos, Cattle Class) on bass and after and Joey Touma on the drums.
After celebrating the launch of their debut single, MONROE are set to release more singles in the not too distant future. With the finishing touches being made to their very own recording studio, 2020 is going to be a year of mammoth proportions for MONROE.
Check out their killer debut single Nature Calls below:
