Petite Noir: The Sound of Noir-Wave
South-African artist Yannick Ilunga, aka Petite Noir, has released the official video for Best from his forthcoming debut album La Vie est Belle/Life is Beautiful.
Born in Brussels to a Congolese father and Angolan mother, Ilunga moved with his family to Cape Town at the age of six. A lifelong interest for music saw him sing and play guitar in a church band as a child, join South African tech star Spoek Mambo with guitar as a teenager, form a chill-wave band titled Popskarr and mingle with rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def.
These musical experiences combined with his interest in and exploration of a wide range of genres from R&B and pop to punk, metal and electro pop, were blended with his African heritage to culminate a new sound debuted in his first single Till We Ghosts released in 2012.
Ilunga has caught the attention of the music world with his darkwave indie filtered through South African sounds. His musical style not only collates all his interests and musical influences from his youth but also expresses a sense of anguish and trepidation as sung from a person who has witnessed tragic and violent events in a young life.
Since his debut single, Ilunga has presented a range of tracks including an EP titled The King of Anxiety all dabbling in his unique sound that ahs been described as dark 80s electro, post-punk, new wave and African fusion. Relieving the music community of trying to put a name on this genre, Ilunga self-titled it noir-wave making it uniquely his own.
With his debut EP King of Anxiety, released in January 2015, Ilunga is fast on following up with the development of a full-length album titled La Vie est Belle/ Life is Beautiful. To give a taste of the upcoming album, the artist has released an official music video for the track Best revealing more of the dark and compelling, African inspired sound that has had his audience thirsting for more since the first single.
La Vie est Belle/ Life is Beautiful is set for release on Friday 11 September 2015 and is available for pre-order here.
Following his album release, Ilunga will be touring Europe, starting in London on Tuesday 15 September 2015. For tour dates visit Petite Noir’s website.
—