Last year we wrote about RELAX, the third album from Kat Burns’ KASHKA project. The record was something of a lesson in marrying opposites, combining electro-pop with orchestral folk to explore the intersection of civilisation and wilderness. The result was a collection of songs that felt related to a contemporary version of Canada, where human progress and human development grows exponentially yet still finds itself surrounded by natural expanse, not to mention the far longer, more sustainable history of the people who came before and managed to coexist with the land to a much greater degree. As we wrote in our piece:
RELAX feels like Burns working through the issues of contemporary Canadian life, how we live positively and responsibly, challenging the privilege of others while questioning our own in the hope of healing history and creating a more just and harmonious future.
To celebrate the one year anniversary of its release, this month saw KASHKA put out a new live EP that takes songs from RELAX and reimagines them to incorporate a string quartet and full choir arrangements. Recorded in Toronto’s Union Sound, the release features four tracks in their newly resplendent state, the tone altogether more cinematic thanks to the violin, viola and cello.
As well as being an EP in its own right, the project was also recorded to produce a series of videos. Filmed by Amanda Fotes and edited by Burns herself, the clips give a great insight into the recording process, and really drive home the organic energy and emotion that is made possible through such an endeavour.
We’re really happy to share a video for the EP’s closing track, ‘Holding Steady.’ The song is one of grit and conviction, it being “rooted in personal and social justice” as we described in our previous review, representing “a call to arms for the beaten down, a signal of strength and determination.”
Relax: Union Sound Sessions is out now and you can get it from the KASHKA Bandcamp page.
Photo by Arden Wray, artwork by Kat Burns