Kardajala Kirridarra
Author: Seth Jordan
View album and artist detailsAlbum and Artist Details
Artist/band: |
Kardajala Kirridarra |
Label: |
Kardajala Kirridarra |
Magazine Review Date: |
March/2018 |
This fine debut comes from a new vocal quartet featuring three Aboriginal women from the Northern Territory outback communities of Marlinja and Kulumindini (Elliott), between Alice Springs and Darwin.
Singing in both their indigenous Mudburra language and English, Kardajala Kirridarra (meaning Sandhill Women) originally came together when songwriter-vocalist Eleanor Dixon teamed up with Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist and electronic producer Beatrice Lewis. Joined by rapper MC Kayla Jackson and Dixon's storyteller-poet aunt, Janey ‘Namija’, the group have enjoyed a rapid rise, winning the 2016 NT Song of the Year award for the delicate ‘Abala Barlawa (Everything was at Peace)’ and gaining substantial Aussie radio airplay.
With layered vocal harmonies, often sung in round cycles, punctuated by electro-enhanced clap-stick rhythms, seed-pod percussion and thunderstorms, the lovely ‘Ngabaju (Grandmothers Song)’ and ‘Ngurrmarla (Love Song)’ both feature Jackson's matter-of-fact raps, while ‘Warmala (Young Girls Song)’ is wrapped around Lewis’ minimalist piano line. Boasting beautifully simple melodies, a whole lot of feeling for spirit country and a healthy dose of traditional women's cultural empowerment, the group have proved themselves to be a bush mob well worth keeping an ear out for.
Singing in both their indigenous Mudburra language and English, Kardajala Kirridarra (meaning Sandhill Women) originally came together when songwriter-vocalist Eleanor Dixon teamed up with Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist and electronic producer Beatrice Lewis. Joined by rapper MC Kayla Jackson and Dixon's storyteller-poet aunt, Janey ‘Namija’, the group have enjoyed a rapid rise, winning the 2016 NT Song of the Year award for the delicate ‘Abala Barlawa (Everything was at Peace)’ and gaining substantial Aussie radio airplay.
With layered vocal harmonies, often sung in round cycles, punctuated by electro-enhanced clap-stick rhythms, seed-pod percussion and thunderstorms, the lovely ‘Ngabaju (Grandmothers Song)’ and ‘Ngurrmarla (Love Song)’ both feature Jackson's matter-of-fact raps, while ‘Warmala (Young Girls Song)’ is wrapped around Lewis’ minimalist piano line. Boasting beautifully simple melodies, a whole lot of feeling for spirit country and a healthy dose of traditional women's cultural empowerment, the group have proved themselves to be a bush mob well worth keeping an ear out for.
