The album has been nominated in the categories “Special Release of the Year” and “Best Vocal Jazz Release of the Year.
IKI released their debut album in 2011, for which they won a Danish Music Award for “Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year”. Their second album, Lava, was released in November 2014. The third album ‘ORACLE’ was released on 23 March 2018 and is now nominated in two categories for Danish Music Award.
Danish Music Awards are presented at the Bremen Theatre in Copenhagen on Monday 12 November.
ORACLE is produced by electronic artist Mike Sheridan adding new sound layers of mysticism to their experimental, hypnotic audio universe.
IKI consists of five women from Norway, Finland and Denmark, all based in Copenhagen. Together they work with their voices as the main instruments and improvisation as their artistic tool. On the upcoming album, they have collaborated closely with Mike Sheridan, and together with him, have created a new, more electronically oriented sound image. The process has been, as IKI’s spirit is, experimental, and together with Mike they have created an album consisting exclusively of electronically manipulated voices.
The album title ORACLE sets the scene for a mythical and mysterious universe. IKI is fascinated by the genderless, mythological and religious oracle that you seek for answers, but which is foggy and ambiguous, leaving the seeker to find their own way forward. The tracks circulate around the ceremonial and tribal. The songs are wordless, but have very specific titles, that can initiate an interpreting process for the listener.
"I experience ORACLE as a photograph of IKI taken from a new angle. A kind of documentation of something spatial. The album progressively evolves from documentation into composition and commutes between that tension", says producer Mike Sheridan.
IKI and ORACLE's visual world is built around masks designed by Londonbased designer Damselfrau (who has also created pieces for Björk and Beyonce). With masks, the five women emphasize the different, mysterious and tribal elements in their music, while at the same time making the masks a significant gender policy point:
"We have created a new tribe of beings. With these masks we feel a greater cohesion as a band, we can move freely in the music and hopefully inspire others. In the world of music, we are all equal regardless of gender and nationality, " says Johanna Sulkunen.
ORACLE is released via DME and is available on all digital platforms and on CD and LP
IKI: Johanna Sulkunen (FIN), Guro Tveitnes (NO), Kamilla Kovacs (DK), Anna Mose (DK), Jullie Hjetland (DK/NO)
TRACKS:
- MEMBRANE 03:16
- POLYGON 03:11
- REFLEX 04:02
- ARCHAE 02:39
- HONEYCOMB 04:37
- EUKARYOTE 03:02
- SPIRAL 05:45
Music by IKI & Mike Sheridan
Electronics & production: Mike Sheridan
Additional voice: Mette Skou
Recorded at Vibe Factory, Copenhagen DK
Cover design: Mads Wolff, Eks-skolens Grafisk Design & Tryk
Photos: Kajsa Gullberg
Masks: Damselfrau