The Adults "Haja" 2018

The 2018 album Haja was released as The Adults in order to secure the participation of Warner Music after the recordings were made. Over the four years it took to create the album, Toogood had not had the name in mind. In 2014 Toogood married Dana Salih in Khartoum, the capital of her home country, Sudan. The traditional three-day ceremony included a dance performed by the bride on the final day. Other than the groom, only women are involved as spectators, drummers (the only instruments played) and singers. Women also write all the music and lyrics. The style is called Aghani al-banat, "girl's music", and is usually only performed live...


...The wedding was Toogood's first encounter with Aghani al-banat, and in particular the famous performer Gisma. As he explained it, "It sounded amazing, thrilling, like some new MIA track I've never heard... Given Islamic laws it felt kind of subversive. ... I couldn't hide my enthusiasm. [The band] stuck around after the wedding and I told them wanted to record with them. I'm not sure they believed me - then a year later I turned up."
Haja combined iPhone recordings made in Sudan in 2015 (the more formal recording sessions didn't yield anything usable) with basslines played by Toogood and vocal contributions from New Zealand hip hop artists including Chelsea Jade, Raiza Biza and Aaradhna. In keeping with the spirit of Aghani al-banat, Toogood invited mostly female collaborators. He originally didn't plan to sing any vocals of his own, but negotiations with Warner Music led to him being heard on two songs.
In 2018 Toogood wrote an academic paper about the project. Entitled Haja: Incorporating Aghani Al-Banat into a Western Popular Music Recording Project,] which formed part of his study towards a Master of Fine Arts. - wiki

trax:
01 Boomtown (feat. Chelsea Jade & Raiza Biza) 02 Haja 03 Take It On The Chin (feat. Kings) 04 Bloodlines (feat. Estére & Jess B.) 05 That Gold (feat. Aaradhna & Raiza Biza) 06 Because Of You (feat. Miloux) 07 Like The Moon 08 Gisma
…served by Gaius…