PollyHill & Samara Alofa expand 'AQUARIES' universe with 'AGE OF URANUS' feat. MOKOTRON, Caru, Half Queen, & more

‘AQUARIES’, the acclaimed 2023 collaborative album from Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland artists PollyHill and Samara Alofa, saw the duo carve out a singular sound distinctly their own; one that defied the conventional soundscapes of electronic music in Aotearoa/New Zealand and leaned deeply into the left-field. With Samara Alofa’s background in alternative R&B, both as a renowned producer and vocalist, and Paloma Schneideman’s background in filmmaking and music, as the rapper and producer behind PollyHill, their sonic dualities and creative synergy fused into one otherworldly being, resembling a queer love child of Björk, Portishead, and Kelela.

Now, almost two years on from the release, PollyHill and Samara Alofa have unveiled a new remix album counterpart, ‘AQUARIES: AGE OF URANUS’, via Aotearoa’s Sunreturn Records. Curated by tastemaking DJ and FILTH co-founder HalfQueen, the 6-track records expertly selected cast looks to the queer, POC, and Indigenous foundations of electronic music history to expand the future of the ‘AQUARIES’ universe.

Adding artists MOKOTRON, DJ Snakelegs, Caru, Queen Of The Hill (HALFQUEEN & PollyHill), Amamelia, and Leaping Tiger to their solar system, each collaborator on ‘AGE OF URANUS’ has been selected with utmost intention. Either from a place of personal connection and friendship, creative alignment as mutual fans and peers, or all of the above, the remix lineup fosters a space where the varied worlds of Aotearoa’s eclectic electronic ecosystem collide as one.

“We chose people who have such strong, staunch artistic voices and choices - they’re all bold producers who we felt would connect to the original songs, and who we all felt in alignment with,” Half Queen reveals. “Each of us (P, Samara and I) has either connected with them in the past personally, or creatively, or experienced a set of theirs, so the curation was very natural! They all brought their unique offerings, and we’re all so excited to see this project land and ripple outwards."

The remix album was announced with the release of MOKOTRON’s rework of the standout AQUARIES track ‘HOME’, a mind-bending waiata (def. song) that the visionary Māori producer has been playing out in live sets over the last year, and even opened his history-making Glastonbury set with in July. The track begins with the dark, haunting atmosphere of wooden Māori flute instrument pūoro, before Samara’s ethereal vocal spell is cut through with jolting bass, blistering dubstep, and skittering percussion.

"Everyone involved, HALFQUEEN, Paloma, and Samara, are just super talented, so the main thing was, this has to be one of the best tunes I’ve ever written," MOKOTRON detailed his contribution. "I’ve gotta use puoro that have never appeared on any of my other tunes. I’ve gotta use bass sounds I’ve never used before. And I have to remove the breaks, which underpin all my tunes. It had to develop as a composition; it had to be both cinematic and minimal. And I wanted that shock factor – that it would start like a typical MOKOTRON tune and then switch the minute the vocal drops and take the listener by surprise."

In addition to utilising her celebrated selection skills for the project, Half Queen joins forces with PollyHill as QUEEN OF THE HILL for the remix of ‘PAIN’, an adrenaline-fuelled journey of rapid-fire jungle rhythms infused with intensifying build-ups and breaks before the final climactic release. The track marks the longtime friends and collaborators' first musical collaboration following a creative history as filmmaking duo Connie Ca$h, where together they’ve brought their music video world-building to celebrated artists including JessB.

“I wanted to start production because I have so many ideas. It’s a natural pathway from experiencing others’ music (my career is built on playing music) to wanting to give back to the ecosystem. Music is a regenerative form,” Half Queen shared.

PollyHill adds, “We were sitting in the studio and tried to cook something up together, as we progressed, it seemed as though we were making garbage. Then we had our individual laptops, I was on Maschine, Shaq was chopping on Serato studio, we had our headphones on, and could only slightly hear each other, and somehow it all came together. We’d break away from our solo work and hear each other’s latest offer, and we were so excited by the little whacky flourishes we’d both made. It was quite organic and mostly silly buggers, and then at one point we were just like... oh… this is good.

We called it the Edging remix because every time we wanted to drop the beat and let it go there, we added another bar or two of build-up, and we thought it was funny. We wanted to really tease out the release so it felt earned. We’ve been edging a new project together for years, so there’s more to come. Queen of the Hill was born.”

DJ SNAKELEGS, the alias of longtime friend and close collaborator Alexa Casino, breathes new life into ‘ACID RAIN’, driven with crisp percussion and atmospheric, chopped vocal loops. The intricate breakbeats of masterful Māori producer Caru take on ‘QUEERBAIT’, the original project's brooding second single, weaving woozy bass lines with suspenseful breaks and vocal mutation.

Amamelia, the acclaimed trans/queer producer and winner of the 2024 Aotearoa Music Awards’ Best Electronic Artist honour, injects her blend of atmospheric downtempo and high-charged jungle/drum & bass into ‘WOBBLE’, accented with euphoric vocal distortion of Alofa’s blissful refrain, “love it when you loving me.” The project closes full circle with another rendition of ‘HOME’, this time by London-based Zambian-New Zealand producer, singer-songwriter and bass player Leaping Tiger, who reimagines the track with swirling synths and lush, reverberating vocals as ‘RUN IT HOME’.

"It has been our little secret for a while, so it’s very exciting to finally share with everyone what’s been on the burner for some time now,” Samara Alofa says of the remix album. “It also feels special to set out to make something with friends, and then actually finish it. Feels like an homage or honouring that relationship."

With eight of Aotearoa’s underground electronic innovators coming into alignment, AQUARIES: AGE OF URANUS illuminates the limitless future of the country’s dance music landscape. Out now via Sunreturn Records, you can stream the album via Bandcamp, SoundCloud and all major streaming platforms, and order a limited edition vinyl LP pressing featuring AQUARIES on Side A and AGE OF URANUS on Side B exclusively from Bandcamp and Flying Out.

Tracklist:

1. HOME (MOKOTRON REMIX)

2. ACID RAIN (DJ SNAKELEGS REMIX)

3. QUEERBAIT (CARU REMIX)

4. PAIN (EDGING QUEEN OF THE HILL REMIX)

5. WOBBLE (AMAMELIA LOUNGE SUITE REMIX)

6. RUN IT HOME (LEAPING TIGER REMIX)

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Laura McInnes is a freelance writer & DJ regularly contributing to Mixmag ANZ from Tāmaki Makaurau. Find her on Instagram.