Slikback and Aïsha Devi are celebrated as two of the most innovative and boundary-pushing artists in contemporary electronic music. So, what happens when their creative forces collide? The answer is AKA HEX – their electrifying new collaboration, launched under Devi’s co-founded label Danse Noire.

This isn’t the first time the pair have crossed paths: on Devi’s 2023 album, Death is Home, their distinctive styles merged on the track ‘Dimensional Spleen’. The result was a potent combination; Devi’s chipmunked, high-pitch vocals intertwined seamlessly with Slikback’s signature bursts of staticky noise, culminating in a song that felt equal parts club-banger and avant-pop experiment.

Slikback, real name Freddy Mwaura Njau, is a Nairobi-born producer who has emerged as a standout amongst a school of talents in Kenyan electronic music. His sound is entirely unique, yet to define him by a single genre would be reductive. Slikback draws upon an array of influences, including gqom, rap and noise, crafting tracks that resist easy categorisation. His breakout 2018 release Lasakaneku, under Nyege Nyege Tapes’ sister-label Hakuna Kulala, established him as a singular voice, and his talent quickly caught international attention.

Aïsha Devi, born in Switzerland with Nepali indigenous heritage, began her career under the moniker Kate Wax, releasing music as early as 2005. Almost a decade later, Devi redefined her artistic direction. In 2013, she released her innovative EP Hakken Dub/Throat Dub, alongside co-founding Danse Noire, an imprint devoted to experimental, boundary-pushing sounds. This was followed two years later by the debut album under her birth name: Of Matter and Spirit.

Even in her earlier work, her penchant for industrial-tinged pop, unusual vocal experiments and metaphysical themes are apparent. Her singing, unlike anything else in music right now, is nasal and high-pitched – strange and eerie without ever veering into gimmickry.

Yet Devi has various other capabilities; whilst aurally recognisable, she is never stagnant in her ideas. Earlier this year, she worked on Aethernal Score, a project created with the BBC Concert Orchestra, released both as a live orchestral performance and an electronic rendition. Elsewhere she has collaborated with Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen on a series of video works showcased at venues including The Barbican and The Broad Museum in LA.

AKA HEX delivers some of Devi’s most club-oriented music to date and some of Slikback’s most experimental. The pair unveiled their new collaboration with a set at Krakow’s Unsound Festival this year, before releasing their debut EP, a short but musically rich project.

Tonally, ‘Do the Rite Thing’ is an intriguing opener. They don’t pull too many punches but neither do they make the mistake of playing all their cards at once. Devi’s falsetto vocals pierce through the mix during carefully measured interludes of space, but their expressiveness is counterbalanced by the insistent darkness of a throbbing beat. Whining, kettle-like noises build tension throughout, yet the track refrains from a full eruption. It’s an ominous opener that teeters on the edge of club-friendly catharsis but resists straight-forward satisfaction.

‘Hex on Fire (Psychic Version)’ opens more abrasively, with pummelling gusts of noise cutting through Devi’s distorted screams. Walls of sub-bass saturate the mix relentlessly before giving way to buoyancy. Devi flicks between android-like spoken-word and nasal, elongated warbles. It’s the EP’s standout track. The pair truly hit their stride, with chimes and melodies panning and floating above rattling noise and shifting beat patterns. Crucially, their distinctive styles feel startlingly cohesive together. True to its name, ‘Hex on Fire (Club Version)’ dials up the intensity. It’s a faster, noisier cut, defined by punchy pauses and thumping bursts of industrial clamour.

A short but undeniably promising debut, AKA HEX proves the value of collaboration even for artists as singularly talented as these two.

Album Image Credit: NMR.CC @ Danse Noire