Hyperreality off Season: Desire Marea

HYPERREALTY all year long. Hyperreality decided to further support community artists and give them a platform by prioritizing pleasure and togetherness from January to December. In this way, the festival for club culture is very honored to open “OFF SEASON” with no other than DESIRE MARIA.

The brand new single “If You Know” dropped on 14.09.2023. It’s the first single from the upcoming EP “The Baddies of Isandlwana”. Vienna will be one of the first lucky ducks to get a sneak peek: Chelsea Vienna, 23.10.2023, 21.00

Prior to his solo output, Desire formed a part of beloved Joburg collective FAKA, who toured the world extensively, including appearances at the 9th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art; Unsound Festival (PL); Roskilde (DK); Sonar (ES); Hyperreality (AT) and Dark Mofo (AU). They made their American debut scoring for the brand Telfar at NYFW, and achieved icon status by partnering with Versace to soundtrack their S/S 2019 menswear show. FAKA were also included in Vogue World 100 and Dazed 100 lists.

Desire’s solo eponymous debut (2020) traversed electronic genres in an introspective exploration of modern love and loss. In contrast, the new album was recorded live with an ensemble of thirteen musicians, many songs being first take: »My ancestors gave me an instruction to record this with a live band. The reasoning? It was a way to ensure that the music carried a soul. We were all united in the most intimate parts of our consciousness. The music made us one. « The union of these souls birthed eight movements that sonically sprawl post-gospel, spiritual jazz and the ancient music of the Nguni and Ndau peoples.

Athi-Patra Ruga, the artist behind the album’s artwork, embodies eroticism as a lifeforce in the oil piece. The artwork was influenced by Rotimi Fani Kayode who defined African queerness through his photography, the leathers of actor Bobby Blake and 19th century Xhosa prophetess Nongqawuse, whose visions arose amidst Strelitzia (crane flowers). Ruga comments »The erotics of his intellect are evident in how we are beckoned to »levitate«, stripping old skin and entering new bodies and plains. This access point is what led me to celebrate this transition. I wanted to be of service to document the processes they went through in their ukuvuma (admission) and also the seductive instructions that are in the lyrics.«

On the Romance of Being is an epoch, as Desire Marea journeys through a multiplicity of identities and elicits a sincere conversation between the erotic and spiritual.