Kidz in Space have released their debut album Ghost through Move the Crowd.
The album is the most sophisticated instalment yet in their ongoing mission to fuse electronic music with pop and hip-hop. Featuring radio hits ‘Downtime’, ‘Ghost’ (feat Dan Black) and the latest single ‘On the Road’, the Ghost project has been nearly two years in the making.
Ghost was conceived not long after their debut EP; Episode 001: Chasing Hayley was released, but the band have been obsessively shaping and honing the album in their Central Auckland laboratory - and only now have they felt ready to unleash it on the New Zealand public.
In the past year the band has toured relentlessly, playing shows alongside the likes of Nas, B.o.B. Damian Marley, Chiddy Bang and Kora. Given that they started as an entirely studio-based creation, this process has challenged and changed them, and they now play with live drums and bass, giving a far more expansive and arena-ready sound.
Ghost reflects these changes, with a fuller, weightier sound than that found on their debut EP, and shows the development of Josh Fountain into one of the best pop producers around. Ashley Hughes and Mat Neshat have been spurred by his elastic, hooky work into becoming top-flight songwriters, to go alongside their already formidable MC’ing.
This adds up to a band, which is startlingly unconventional in its make up and sound - two MCs alongside a producer/singer, playing electronic pop and hip hop. Ghost is unlike anything to come out of New Zealand, and is very international in its sonic architecture and outlook.
While their identities may no longer be a secret, and they no longer play in DIY space suits, Kidz In Space sound, if anything, more space age..
‘Gladiator’ shows an effortless charisma, while ‘Best Foot Forward’ has slow-burning atmospherics and ‘On The Road’ a huge pop heart. As a collection it shows that the band has grown immensely in all areas, learning a lot from the artists they’ve toured with, while retaining the singular elements that made them utterly unique.
Ghost is where it is all captured in one place for the first time, and will see the one time space travellers ascend to another galaxy of sound.
