August 18, 2016
noaccordion
Freak in C: noaccordion's Polyrhythmic Dance Tracks, Goddess-Loving Hip Hop, and Beautiful Contradictions New album Love Warrior releases Aug 18, 2016 When multi-instrumentalist Onah Indigo first picked up the accordion, she had to put it down. It was heavy, awkward, annoying. Yet eventually, she found an idiosyncratic stance that puts the instrument center stage, while defying its limitations. Like the push and pull of bellows, this tension generates a quirky blast of energy. Add club beats, underground MCs, freaky variations on deceptively familiar keys, a bit of surrealist wit, and a rebellious fight for greater openness, and you have noaccordion. On Love Warrior (release date: Aug 18, 2016), noaccordion's first full-length album in five years, Onah digs deep into the polyrhythms and quirky phases of the heart. She taps MCs (Sunru, Chatterbox, Delwin G), beatboxers (Mastah Lock), and musical mavericks (guitar wizard Eenor) to get the party started--and to celebrate the glories of womanhood, from the elevated to the sensual. "The tracks on this album mark a major milestone in my movement toward greater confidence and joy, something I think a lot of women can relate to," muses Onah, speaking of her journey through motherhood, divorce, renewed sexuality, and artistic transformation. "I feel I've grown musically stronger and set aside all my obsessions as an audio engineer. I've become a lot more open and playful. For me now, it's about juxtaposition, yin and yang. It's the light and the dark. We need to embrace both." Rhythmic experiences from other traditions and genres, from samba to jazz, have infiltrated her beats, expanding the 4/4 tendencies of many club tracks. "I want to feel the internal pulse in my body," Onah explains. "When you're in a samba band, you dance as you walk to the beat. You internalize the pulse and then lay your polyrhythms on top," an approach that creates intriguing tracks. Like the club music and hip hop that inspired the album, noaccordion's music is made to get people moving, while delivering a message of liberation, self-love, and sheer delight. "I've got a huge connection with movement and sound," she says. "I can't sit still when I'm playing. I'm going to embody that pulse in some form of movement." "I call my project noaccordion for a reason. People have strong reactions to the instrument. Most people love it; it often reminds them of their cultural past. But some people can't stand it. It's a particular sound, designed to be played outdoors and loudly," she says. "I may not play it a few years from now. It may not appear in my repertoire. I don't want to be defined by it." But of course, sometimes noaccordion includes accordion: "I like to break rules," laughs Onah. "Even my own."