СОЮЗ / SOYUZ

About

" An incomparable mix of 70s Brazilian jazz, and prog-pop "

Music knows no boundaries. We all know that. But listening to SOYUZ’s latest album, ‘Force of The Wind’ (2022, Mr. Bongo Records), this incomparable mix of 70s Brazilian jazz, prog and funk feels much like a lost masterpiece from that era, and it’s almost impossible to guess that this band is somewhat new and emerging from Minsk, Belarus, no less. 

All artists involved in the album are vocally anti-war. SOYUZ say “We do not in any way support the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. We have been associated with the Ukrainian label Masterskaya for many years, and one of the members of the band lived in Kyiv when the war started. We condemn all forms of violence, especially when it comes to the deaths of civilians”.

The sound, production and musical orientation of the album brings to mind the experimental-yet-melodic work of Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges, and Arthur Verocai, and the elegant, breezy soundscape of João Gilberto. The remarkable quality of Brazil’s musical culture and its capacity to seamlessly integrate as many outside influences into one place is very well represented here, bridging perfectly to contemporary Belarus. Alongside instrumental compositions, songs are sung both in Russian and Portuguese.

The name SOYUZ translates to ‘union’, illustrating the collective character of the trio made up of composer and singer Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist Mikita Arlou, and drummer Anton Nemahai. They’ve been honing their craft since 2018 with the release of two albums, where they mainly focused on 80s influenced electro-pop, gradually involving more experimentation in their arrangements (for example, they mix folk jazz and rap in their second album, ‘II’, in 2019).  It’s on the new album where Alex Chumak has set free his vast sonic palette and deep knowledge of Brazilian music to produce something even more personal. While their sun-kissed arrangements and heady productions clearly evoke its musical origins, SOYUZ nevertheless seems to exist somewhere far outside time and musical boundaries.