London based Portuguese singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mai Kino dives into the oceans deep on her new single “Lungs”, mixed by David Wrench (The XX, FKA Twigs, Jungle). The third track to be lifted from her forthcoming ‘Dopamine’ EP, which is released next month, “it’s a song about survival” she explains.
“Lungs started with an image in my head, of people living underwater…” Mai Kino says, set in this imagined world the song is all about the difficulties of being confined to one space where even love is struggling to fight against the current. Mai Kino pleads to not be let down and with this admittance of a lapse in control comes one of the track’s most important messages, to remember the people who hang on the decisions you make. “I wrote it a while ago but in many ways it mirrors what’s going on in the world at the moment,” she adds, comparing the track’s ethereal themes with the tangible isolation of lockdown during this global pandemic.
Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Mai Kino grew up with dreams of performing in the capital’s most grand venues. With a background in multimedia art and dance, Mai Kino’s music is not her only creative outlet – she crafts multisensory visual offerings to accompany her impressive soundscapes.
Now based in London, her next body of work to be released is a new four-track EP, Dopamine, which will feature a brand new title track single, as well as “Lungs” and both previously released tracks “Talk” and “Swim”. The collection of tracks capture snapshots of feelings from Mai Kino’s personal life from modern disconnection to the joy of new life. The title track speaks of an everyday struggle in that pursuit of happiness, with some of her most honest work to date Mai Kino knows that “Dopamine” isn’t always that easy to find.
