CARI releases debut EP ‘Flux’

CARI – alternative RnB’s next great hope – releases her long-awaited debut EP, FLUX. It unveils the scale of her ambition as an artist untangling love’s complexities with an experimental edge, where electric guitars, neo-noir and gospel influences feel distinctly future-facing while honouring the tenets of RnB.

Already named as one of the NME 100 to watch this year, appearing at Milan Fashion Week, collaborating with Destin Conrad on his debut album Love on Digital and performing at SXSW London this year – with cult single ‘Colder In June’reaching over 1 million streams – FLUX marks an artist who has truly arrived.

The EP was written as an act of escapism – from her job as an Apple technician which consumed her days and from the monumental heartbreak which consumed her altogether. With questions and no answers, music was a search in the dark which turned into a lifeline for her self-esteem. She reconnected with the gospel of her childhood, memories of crate-digging in her father’s record shop and her ancestral home of Grenada – and in turn, reconnected with herself. A sonic lovechild of Brandy and Radiohead, she rides the knife’s edge between 24-karat RnB and turns of guitar-led and electronic experimentalism. Her creative rebirth was also in no small part due to her alliance with master producer Melo-Zed — known for his work with Yazmin Lacey, Obongjayar, Ego Ella May, and Tora-i — which brought to life the artist we see before us today.

‘Luvhiii’, the EP’s latest forerunner, is warped by electronic flourishes like a reflection caught on water – there’s an air of suspicion; whispers lurking beneath. But it’s anchored to earth with piano flourishes and stripped-back finger clicks. And then, of course, there’s her unmistakable voice. It’s dark and stormy, exploring the notion of love as an intoxicant through the metaphor of a spy and their target. The EP is brimming with the quick wit of her pen – who could forget the iconic, damning line from “Bleeding” (“The devil keeps trying me / He reminds me of you / Ooh, you bad bitch fumbler”)The serrated electric guitars and sultry grooves of “Phuckups (Hold Me)” is not to be missed, along with FLUX’s spectacular closer “Over & Over” with its infectious basslines and crowd-rallying chorus.