New Zealand-based artist Shivnesh Sumer, known professionally as Cymbol, is poised to shake up the electronic dance music scene with his debut album, Distractions. Renowned for his sharp DJ skills and clever production techniques, Cymbol has already garnered a global following eagerly anticipating the release of his first full-length project.
Distractions offers an ambitious blend of Cymbol’s signature electronic style with fresh influences from Hindi and Punjabi music, integrated seamlessly with American hip-hop vibes. Cymbol’s genre-bending sound is anexercise in creative risk-taking, yielding a listen that’s both refreshing and intimate – proof that this artist is committed to evolving and broadening their musical scope.
Distractions benefits from a timely collision of creative forces, as Chitralekha Sen and Markel X.L. converge for a series of spellbinding vocal harmonies. Borrowing from the excitement of Bollywood, the playbook of pop, and the street smarts of hip-hop, this track births a style that’s equal parts sweet melody and rugged beat. An accompanying music video set to release shortly after the album aims to visually capture the essence of this vibrant sonic mixture.
It’s in the grooves of Distractions where we find the echoes of personal transformation, echoes that transcend mere musical textures to become a testament to artistic resilience. The focus track, also named Distractions, is strategically placed as the album’s finale, symbolizing the end of one chapter in Cymbol’s career and the beginning of another. Cymbol’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes is captured in this track, as he sidesteps his past achievements and charts a course for innovative new beginnings.
Since his breakout win at the George FM Remix Competition in 2013, Cymbol’s career trajectory has been nothing short of impressive. International feats decorate his resume, featuring a prized deal with Australia’s Sweat It Out Music and a memorable three-year stretch at Universal AUS/NZ. With every vinyl flip and every stroke of the crossfader, Cymbol injects raw passion into the air, whipping up manic buzz at New Zealand’s hottest festivals and events.
On Distractions, Cymbol unleashes an audacious sonic revolt, fearlessly combing raw electronic edge with ancestral rhythms and time-worn melodic motifs, rendering his already-packed resumé suddenly forward-thinking and refreshingly bold.