Kovacs The Hun - Self Isolation

Hailing from the enchanted land of Budapest, Hungary, an eastern European region with an extraordinary musical history, Beatmaker Nándor Kürtössy examines abstract musical forms alongside themes found in contemporary life. Recently, sparked by the global pandemic, Nándor's musical output has become fashioned by his experience of isolation due to extreme lockdown and feelings surrounding the existential angst which seems to pervade modern life. These themes are explored sonically and resonantly through his Kovacs The Hun project and new album for The Content Label, Self Isolation. The resulting eleven tracks are expressive and detained, springing from Nándor's love of jazz and beats before traversing into moodier territories.

With the opening "Premise," the stage is set with an intro of melancholic piano and male choir-like voices that could be on the edge of anguish. This tonal place-setting leads seamlessly into "Potestatem Musicae"'s subdued jazz rhythm, beamed-in vocal snips, and disembodied melodies from a wandering whistler. The off-kilter jazz proposals continue with "Restlessness," driven by locked-in drum riffs and stand-up bass. The horns in this cut are also out of sight. Kovacs The Hun also deals in atmosphere, creating mental films — in black & white — through grainy tracks like "The Right & The Wrong." The tune is a variety of scenes playing out, like the protagonist happening upon a hidden jazz club while lost in the night.

A deft collaborator, Nándor also lets others into his isolated world on a pair of album highlights. On "Glass Sphere," world-renowned artist and saxophonist Andras Wahorn expresses ecstatic release over the covert tactics of Kovacs The Hun's sublime production. And "Innercine," a title that seems to evoke the internal cinema, features Fanni Zohar of hip-hop funk collective SoulClap Budapest playing a numinous flute melody over Nándor's otherworldly backdrop.

Meant to convey seclusion and solitude in all its forms, Kovacs The Hun's Self Isolation is actually communal — a blistering audio catharsis of feeling to bring its listeners into a mutual understanding of our world's current standing. Through its message, beats, and remarkable musicianship, Self Isolation can't help but rally its adherents toward what comes next.

Self Isolation is available digitally and in limited edition vinyl format, the executive producer is Dday One with artistic direction from the artist.