Yirinda

An inventive duo collaboration between Australian Aboriginal songman Fred Leone and Brisbane-based producer-musician Samuel Pankhurst, Yirinda treads a somewhat delicate path, blending traditional Indigenous vocals with minimalist electronics and production to create experimental soundscapes.

A Garrwa-Butchulla man from the Fraser Coast region of Queensland, who also has Tongan and South Sea Islander roots, Fred Leone has raised his profile considerably over the past few years, impressively guesting on his cousin Birdz’ 2021 hip-hop hit (‘Bagi-la-m Bargan’), and attracting the solo attention that he deserves with his own recent anthemic track ‘Yirimi Gundir’.

Samuel Pankhurst is an acclaimed producer and contrabassist who has scored extensively for contemporary dance productions such as Mia Forrest’s City Crush. Working together as Yirinda (which means ‘Now’ in the Butchulla language), this self-titled debut album is an imaginative next step for them both, and was recorded in Brisbane, mixed in London and mastered at Abbey Road.

On diverse tracks like ‘Yuangan (Dugong)’ and ‘Dhangalim (Fly)’, Leone’s calm clear voice and Butchulla lyrics convey a steady if rather quiet cultural strength, while on ‘Guyu (Fish)’ and ‘Thurum Voi (Look There)’, laden with bargan (boomerang) as clapsticks, he vocally soars. Elsewhere Pankhurst’s subtle bass and electronic contributions continually add a suitably atmospheric ambience to this duo’s very impressive creative mix.