''Synthetic Soul'' is the debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by Canadian

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

band Chiiild. It was released on February 28, 2020, by Avant Garden and

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

. The EP exemplifies the band's blend of

, r&b,

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic dr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, indie, and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

. It also features a sole guest appearance from

Zimbabwean American Zimbabwean Americans are Americans of full or partial Zimbabwean ancestry. The Zimbabwean communities are localized, among other places, in California and Texas. History The first great wave of immigration from Rhodesia (modern-day Zimb ...

singer and songwriter

Shungudzo Alexandra Shungudzo Govere, better known as Shungudzo, is a Zimbabwean-American singer and reality television personality. She first attracted media attention by being the first black female gymnast to represent Zimbabwe in artistic gymnastics a ...

Release and promotion

''Synthetic Soul'' was officially released for digital download and streaming on February 28, 2020, by Avant Garden and

. A short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

of the same name—shot by Peter Hou at Wild Studio, in Saint-Zénon,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

—was released on May 14, 2020. * The film exhibits the remote

haven Haven or The Haven may refer to: * Harbor or haven, a sheltered body of water where ships can be docked Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Haven (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter), from the novel series * Haven (comics), from the ''X-Men ...

in which the EP was created and introduces the band's empirical approach to

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Singles

"Count Me Out" was released on July 31, 2019, as the EP's lead single. It received world premiere support from Rory Farrell on The Joe Budden Podcast. The EP's second single, "Back to Life", featured

and premiered on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

Beats 1 Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod ...

radio show on September 13, 2019. "Darling" was released as the third single on November 13, 2019. The fourth single, "Hands Off Me", was released on January 22, 2020. On July 22, 2020, a stripped version of "Pirouette" was released as a promotional single. It was synced on ABC's

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into ...

, airing on the seventeenth season's fifth episode, " Fight the Power," on December 10, 2020.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Synthetic Souls sound was widely acclaimed by

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. In speaking about the band's artistry, Krista Apardian of '' Ones to Watch'' proclaimed that the EP's "delicate balance of smooth retro soul, psychedelia, and modern R&B" produced "an entrancing mix of old and new." Writing for '' Lyrical Lemonade'', Lucas Garrison commended the EP's introspective lyrics, claiming that " hiiildreally succeed in blending experimentation with emotion." While commenting on the saturation of experimental R&B in

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

, Dominiq Robinson of ''HotNewHipHop'' positively distinguished ''Synthetic Souls textural production—calling it a sonic "blueprint" in the use of "ambient synth pads, funky basslines, lo-fi drum sequencing, and

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

-heavy vocals". In addition to ''Synthetic Souls positive reception, Chiiild has been listed as an "Artist to Watch" by media outlets such as '' Pigeons & Planes'', ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'', ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fr ...

'', ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

's global emerging-artist program, RADAR.

Accolades

"Hands Off Me" was shortlisted for Triple J's Hottest 100 on December 8, 2020. On December 15th, Chiiild received their first Song of the Year nomination, for "Pirouette", at ''WTBs inaugural We The Beat Awards. They were announced as the winners of the award on December 28, 2020.

Track listing

EP credits adapted from Tidal.

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

. * Yonatan "xSDTRK" Ayal – vocals, production, recording engineer, bass, keyboards * Pierre-Luc Rioux – production, recording engineer, guitar * Alexandra Shungudzo Govere – featured artist * Isabelle "Izzi" Dunn – strings * Lauren "LYON" Malyon – strings * Maxime Bellavance – drums * John "J-Banga" Kercy – mixing *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

– mastering

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2020 debut EPs Island Records EPs Soul jazz EPs Psychedelic music EPs Soul albums by Canadian artists Experimental music EPs Experimental music albums by Canadian artists