Ladi6 – Beffy

With their new single ‘Beffy’, Ladi6 reframe the 90s/early 2000s neo-soul and hip-hop sound their early music was built on inside a krautrock inspired electronic frame. Concise, colourful and heartfelt, it’s the sound of a band focused on feel over thought. “This time around we wanted to get away from making a specific type of record and just feel our way through what came out,” Parks explains. “We just wanted to trust ourselves and be authentic to what came naturally,” Ladi continues.

To accomplish this, in July 2015, Ladi, Parks, Julien Dyne, and Brandon Haru, the four Auckland-based musicians collectively known as Ladi6 partnered with iconic New Zealand bar chain The Matterhorn to host The Alpha Sessions. Over nine shows held between two cities, they brought their studio set-up, vintage keyboards and drum machines and all on stage. Through live, in-the-moment improvisation, they turned these freestyle jam sessions into the songs that make up their forthcoming new album. In line with this approach (insert album title here) sees all four musicians sharing production duties, making it a complete group effort.

Accompanied by an equally vivid animated video created by respected New Zealand director, animator and illustrator Robert Wallace, ‘Beffy’ is a soulful and emotionally engaging statement of intent from an experienced and well-regarded band who continue to challenge themselves creatively. “We love Robert’s aesthetic and interpretative vision,” Ladi says. “We’ve worked with him in the past on videos and album artwork, and he’s always added value to our original ideas through shining a new light on them.”