kuzco: bound to be
Francisco Espregueira
There’s a smoky late-night feel to Kuzco’s Bound To Be, never staying in one lane for too long. Released through Energy Exchange Records, the Melbourne artist keeps pulling threads from different corners of club culture — street soul, ghetto tech, downtempo and Detroit electronics all rubbing shoulders in the same space. Kuzco has already been building serious momentum through her femme and queer-led party Soak, plus sets at Booty2Booty in Australia, and this release feels like another clear step forward. You can hear the influence of London’s ‘90s underground in the softer vocal textures and swung grooves, though the pulse underneath belongs firmly to contemporary Naarm dancefloors.
Bound To Be leans into her energetic and character. “What Could Happen” drifts beautifully with airy vocals and dusty rhythm patterns, while “Be Loved” pushes into tougher territory with saturated breaks and acidic bass pressure. The second half of the EP gets sweatier and looser. “Waaalk” and “Ha Ha Ha” flirt with electro and ghetto tech energy without losing that playful touch Kuzco carries throughout her productions. Remixes from Detroit’s Ladymonix and Black Moonchild add another perspective on that late-night weight, especially the latter’s hypnotic techno rework that sounds built for dark rooms and strobe lights. A proper heads-down release with heart in it. Available on vinyl, Bound To Be is a project we believe will inroduce this very interesting artis to wider audiences.
“Various visits to London during the making of this music have really inspired me to dig deeper into the 90s UK electronic sound, particularly the Street Soul, New Jack Swing and Downtempo productions that were coming out of London at that time”