rising star creates a world of her own

Step inside the Misoverse, where eclectic sounds are explored with freedom and abandon. The creative world, dreamt up by singer, rapper and producer Miso Extra, is a dizzying whirl of synth fireworks, ASMR-like tones, and slick, chopped-up hip hop beats that colours ‘Great Taste’, her sweet and distorted debut EP.

“Misoverse is a term used to help understand my mind,” the London-based artist recently explained, and indeed, this five-track collection invites a moment of quiet introspection as it hinges upon areas of Miso’s personal life. After she began to hone her production skills throughout 2020, what began as a lockdown project has now become her day-to-day reality. She chooses to illuminate her dual heritage in her art, veering between lyrics in English and Japanese and making deeply personal music in order to chart her own growth.

‘The Adventures Of Tricky N Duke’ is searching and soft, dancing around the butterflies that accompany a new friendship with endearing candour, childlike coos and a sunny thump. Miso spirals in her glee: “I’m happy in my heart”, she repeats, content. But there’s space, too, for Miso to take sharp, sudden turns from effervescent highs to smouldering angst and solitude. Warped percussion contorts ‘1013’, which contemplates a world becoming oversaturated by social media.

Miso excitedly hopscotches between styles, and is dedicated to channelling the eccentricities of her obvious influences. Fellow NME 100 alumni Nayana IZ makes an appearance on the savagely funky title track, where there are hints of early Rejjie Snow in a mix of pitch-shifted vocals and twisted G-funk flourishes. There are further moments, though, where it’s clear that Miso is still establishing a musical identity of her own: ‘Deep Fried’ wriggles and bounces as it cleaves closely to the intergalactic pop of Gorillaz’s ‘Humanz’ era. These sonic similarities don’t diminish Miso’s evident potential, but they do hold her back.

What makes ‘Great Taste’ exciting, though, is the prospect of seeing where Miso’s sense of freedom and experimental spirit will take her once she’s begun to settle into her own individual sound. By exploring every corner of her own musical palette – swiftly and effortlessly, just like hopping between tracks on a multi-genre playlist – the Misoverse concept endures throughout. “Thank you all for coming / Miso’s been your host”, she concludes on closer ‘Tadori’, before blasting off back to her own unique planet.

Details

• Release date: March 4
• Record label: Beatnik Creative

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