Future-soul two-piece LUNIR prepare to release their vibrant new single, Wadidi, out now.

Wadidi is a crisp, captivating track about self-dependence. Combining elements of R&B, soul and electronica, the single is an undeniably slick slice of forward-thinking musicality that defies genre. Becky Sikasa’s smooth, sultry lead vocal soars effortlessly over woozy electronics to create a kaleidoscopic hybrid of colour and soul, sounding akin to the likes of Solange and Glass Animals.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with LUNIR about their latest release, challenges, motivations and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

I guess it’s tricky to say as we’re such a mishmash of styles, but the common denominator is probably vocal harmony. We’ve both been really into that ever since we were really young so that sort of ties into a lot of what we do.

How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?

Well we met at the beginning of university and started performing together straight off the bat, in a bunch of different projects, but started playing as LUNIR three years ago, in late 2015. Individually though, I think probably since we were 15 or 16.

Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?

I think we’re influenced by a wide range of things, from Lauryn Hill to Shostakovich, and we both want to have all the stuff that we like about the music we listen to to permeate our songwriting, rather than just writing for one of the genres we enjoy. Motivation for sure varies, with the ups and downs of the music industry, but there’s just something about seeing a single thought or idea grow into music; and that music becoming somewhat meaningful to others, especially when you play live.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

We hadn’t released anything in a while, and musically we’ve departed a little from our last release, so we felt we needed to get something fresh out there for the ears.

What was the last song you listened to?

Vulfpeck’s new track Darwin Derby. It’s a real earworm.

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

I like vinyls because they’re actually a physical piece of art, and I really enjoy listening to albums in their entirety…but I also love the convenience of digital files, and the sheer quantity of music you can have with you all the time. I’ve been on so many 12-hour bus journeys that would’ve been unbearable without a digital music collection. You never know when all of a sudden you want to listen to that Britney Spears album from when you were seven!

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

I’ve found Spotify to be an incredibly easy way of discovering new music (which I think is one of the most important things to be doing as a musician), and also quite key in expanding our audience – both within the countries we currently perform in, and in others across the globe. That said, I’ve been using Spotify for so long that I’ve never really bothered trying another service. So that’s lazy.

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?

I think the only problem other than that over-saturation of music is that we just don’t have much material out there for people to listen to. Unless a single gets a decent amount of traction fairly quickly, it’s a little trickier to turn listeners into fans unless there’s a little more material there for them to be able to grasp what the artist is about. That’s about to change though, as we’re deep in the beautiful mess that is producing a debut album.

Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?

We toured a lot this year, so now we’re hunkering down to work on our debut album, and subsequently will be back out doing shows next year with a new live set. We’ll be in the UK mixing the album in late February/ early March so we’re bound to do a couple of shows when we’re over then!

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?

Social platform-wise, Instagram and Facebook are where we’re at mostly. Otherwise, I’d say our website (it has everything including live shows, videos etc), or Spotify – we also curate monthly Spotify playlists which you can find on our profile!

Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?

Keep venturing from your comfort zone!