They were the Eurovision 2017 interval act who nearly stole the show. ONUKA more than held their own against the likes of Ruslana and Jamala, bringing their own slice of avant-garde electronica to the Kyiv contest. The band has now released “Vsesvit“, the first single from their upcoming album “Mozaika”.
ONUKA — “Vsesvit”
“Vsesvit” — which translates as “The Universe” — is described by the band as a mix of “Sigur Ros and the soundtrack to The Lion King”. It’s world music electro-folk at its finest (and yes, y’all, that apparently is a genre).
Lead singer Nata’s vocal is light and dream, perfectly fitting for the music. There’s a real sense of Ukraine-meets-Africa here: folk instruments in a warmer climate.
Instruments and chanting build in to a frenzy towards the song’s close — there’s a real journey to this track. We can’t wait to see what the band come up with for the video, too!
It’s a real step-change from the dark sense you get from “Vidlik”, but still feels like an ONUKA track. “Vsesvit” is also a collaboration with legendary French new-age group, Deep Forest.
ONUKA continue to tour throughout the summer, having performed just this weekend at Romania’s Electric Castle festival. The highlight of that tour though was, of course, Eurovision 2017.
Whilst initial reaction to ONUKA’s selection as a 2017 interval act was mixed, their performance was one of the highlights of the grand final. Some commenters even suggested that the band should have been Ukraine’s act instead of O.Torvald!
What do you think of “Vsesvit”? Would you like to see ONUKA back at Eurovision at some point? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below!
Hope Onuka will represent Ukraine next year.
Great performance!!
“Nearly stole the show”? Pretty much did…
Wow this track is absolutely beautiful, I love her everything about it, from her voice, to the electronic-folk instrumental. Would be a great song/ artist to represent Ukraine at Eurovision.
Yes she is