2018 was a typically busy year for Octo Octa, otherwise known as Maya Bouldry-Morrison. Her touring schedule was relentless, traversing between intimate all night DJ sets in her native NYC to performing live to thousands of revelers at Sónar-by-Night.
The record represents some of Maya’s most vulnerable work to date. Opening song ‘I Need You’ is a bold declaration regarding her need for love during a delicate time of rapid change. Written on an extended tour spent alone, this radiant breakbeat love letter is the first vocal performance Maya has recorded in many years, and the first since transition. It features the voice of a woman who has been through an intense personal struggle, and through that process come to a place of understanding that she is not alone. That the people in her life – her friends, her family, and her polyamorous lovers – are, and have been, essential to her process of self-acceptance and becoming.
The second track, ‘Bodies Meld Together’ is a sensuous house dub. It evokes the mystical penetrating experience of a connection ritual that is at once obliterating and rejuvenating. The song is a musical snapshot of an actual lived encounter, and reflects Maya’s belief that physical connections with her partners is – at its most elevated – a profound spiritual catharsis.
Closing track, ‘Loops For Healing’, was written during a studio session immediately after Octo Octa completed her acclaimed second album “Where Are We Going?”. Not originally intended for release, it was – as the title suggests – composed as a personal tool for healing. It lay dormant for over a year until Maya found it on her hard-drive and fortuitously played it at a club a few months ago. It was one of those occasionally frustrating gigs that all DJs experience from time-to-time, but playing the tune to a packed floor that night grounded her and was a potent reminder why she is a musician in the first place: to heal herself and to heal others.
“For Lovers” EP will be released on 12” and digitally on 1st March, via Technicolour.
Tracklist:
1. I Need You
2. Bodies Meld Together
3. Loops For Healing
Tour dates:
Fri 01 Feb Absolut Manifesto Madrid, ES
Sat 02 Feb Just Jack Xiii at Motion Bristol Bristol, UK
Fri 08 Feb The Wonder Pot Pres Liverpool, UK
Sat 09 Feb Zeezout at Suikerunie Groningen, NL
Fri 15 Feb Carnaval de Bahidorá 2019 at Las Estacas Morelos, MX
Fri 08 Mar Natural Selection at Headrow House Leeds, UK
Sat 09 Mar Sónar İstanbul 2019 Istanbul, TR
Fri 15 Mar Public Records New York, US
Fri 22 Mar Origins at Moles Bath, UK
Sat 23 Mar Origins at Mick’s Garage London, UK
Sat 04 May Dabadaba San Sebastian, ES
Sun 05 May ZeeZout Liberty Day Amsterdam, NL
Thu 30 May Primavera Sound Barcelona, ES
Fri 31 May Lighthouse Festival Tar, HR
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