saada bonaire

Released now for the first time ever,1992 compiles the band’s long-lost early nineties material.

Produced between Bremen and New York City, the 12 songs presented here capture the group’s attempts at steering their trademark fusion sound (reggae, afro-funk, Eastern music, and sultry German female vocals) into uncharted nu jazz, trip-hop, and house territories. It’s no surprise, given both the time lapse and the fluid nature of the project, that these recordings differ sonically from the 1980s material.1992 finds Saâda Bonaire folding new influences from the time (house, hip-hop, rap) into their eclectic sonic universe. Vocalist Andrea Ebert’s soulful voice –the result of a church choir background and an early love of American soul and jazz music– offset Stephanie Lange’s laid-back, more German-sounding vocals. This unique interplay bolstered the band’s new direction - evident in their inspired takes on James Brown’s “Woman” and Syreeta Wright and Stevie Wonder’s “To Know You Is To Love You”. The American influence was also made literalvia contributions by renowned DJ Matthias Heillbronn and rapper Jimmy Lee Patterson, both of whom lent some stardust to the track sat François Kevorkian’s Axis Studios in NYC. Unfortunately, the demo recordings were considered too bizarre for1990s record label standards, and as a result were never published. As with all things Saâda Bonaire, the discovery of these discarded recordings feels like a sort of magical impossibility. It’s been nearly ten years since the release of the last compilation, and thirty since the recordings were originally captured. That they still manage to sound fresh and avant garde is a testament to Saâda Bonaire’s flair for creating pop music for past, present, and future outsiders