UNA "Seraglio" [Single] (Cool Jewel)
Add Date: 11/7/2023
Release Date: 10/31/2023
FCC: Clean
Formats: Non-Comm AAA, NACC Top 200, Chill, Electronic
RIYL: Banks, Agnes Obel, Little Dragon, Chet Faker, Sylvan Esso and Zero 7.
Downtempo Electronic collective UNA formed around 2007 when producer Richard Larsen recorded a demo with Jennifer Nice. After hearing her Latin soul vibe they started working on an EP The Rain is Over and Gone and called themselves UNA. Soon DJ Eddie Barajas joined them and a full length LP, entitled “one" was released. Several songs were favored by influential radio station KCRW (home of Morning Becomes Eclectic) and swept the LP to the top position, debuting at #1 in the US for unsigned bands (Mediaguide).
Releasing 7 records since, the Independent Music Awards nominated UNA’s Last Time I Saw You for Top Song in 2018, and then in 2019 nominated Hiss for the Fly Top 5 Album of the Year. Nearly every UNA release hit Top 10’s across the country. Now, UNA looks forward to part three of their fly trilogy with The Look in Their Eyes starting off with their pandemic-inspired, sneak peak, soulful single Time Zone.
Using mostly downtempo jazz inspired grooves and Wurli electric piano, UNA proceeds to deliver profound pop, lending their vibe to what was called electronica but would otherwise be described as a new form. Guest musicians on past releases include Shawn Davis, Scott Eric Olivier, Don Ferrone, Cari Craig and Lars Horntveth among others. UNA tracks have been remixed by the likes of Charles Webster, Nightmares on Wax, Mystery Skulls, Kenneth Pattengale, Pépé Bradock, and John Tejada to name a few.
Their most recent work has been mentioned as a mixture of Dream-Pop, Indietronica, and Alternative R&B, but catching up with these music tags is bewildering. While not re-hashing those ideas, yet remaining openly positive and spirited, UNA is moving into new territory with musical references to many styles.
Their sound is distinctive and identifiable.
We just call it UNA.
Thoughts on Seraglio
Missed connections, in a world of 8 billion, is not uncommon. None the less, it’s something we desperately hope never happens to us. Seraglio (the g is silent) touches on that feeling when you know someone is noticing you and you notice them too… and you notice them noticing you, but you are frozen. You feel heat on your face..unsure if you should say something or simply let the moment pass. Will you ever see them again?
On the music itself, there’s perfidious little notes in there, populating a corner of a neighborhood nobody thought anybody lived there. They come out at night, after dusk, especially on kind of foggy nights where not sure if you see what you’re seeing, or hearing what you’re hearing. And they just hang out there for a little while till the clouds come and it isn’t safe to stay there anymore. Can you see them?
In this song Seraglio, it’s the B natural in an Eb song. An augmented fifth, and nobody at music schools seems to like that. However, augmented fifths are in many music treasures.
Will Seraglio be one?