If You Ask / Tenorio

Proudly presenting, (If You Ask)', a brand new, blissed-out pop production with a '70s AOR touch, by the ever-on-point SOYUZ (????). Coming at a period between albums, the single features guest appearances from the sensational musicians, Biel Basile (O Terno, Sessa) and Anthony Ferraro (Toro y Moi, Astronauts, Etc.). Friends of the band, they add their signature touch on the drums and synth respectively. To complete the package, SOYUZ back the title track with a short but sweet, Wurlitzer-laden, MPB-tinged number, 'Teno'rio'. '???? ?? ???????? (If You Ask)' tells the story of lost dreams. A track that can be interpreted either as a bittersweet longing for childhood times, or for a native place you can't return to. For the writer Alex Chumak he suggests, "In my case, as in the case of many Belarusians, it's both". For this song, Alex chose to sing in his native Belarusian tongue. As he explains this language "to me feels underrepresented in pop music, also it's a beautiful legacy and sonority that I wanted to share with the listeners of our project around the world". One of the key inspirations was a Belarusian band "???????" ("Pesniary"), who produced a host of great progressive folk, jazz fusion and AOR, from the '70s to the '90s, predominantly sung in Belarusian. Another key influence was the music coming out of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in the '70s, drawing inspiration from the sentimental and harmonious music of Beto Guedes, Lô Borges, Fernando Oly and Wagner Tiso.