Hiatus Kaiyote Drop Serene New Song ‘Red Room’

Australian outfit Hiatus Kaiyote have released a new song, “Red Room,” from their upcoming album, Mood Valiant, out June 25th via Brainfeeder Records/Ninja Tune.

The tune toes the line between slinky and woozy lo-fi soul, with tight bass and drums, winding guitar, and languid piano flowing beneath Naomi “Nai Palm” Saalfield’s vocals. The track also arrives with a music video, directed by Tré Koch, that finds Hiatus Kaiyote in a room that increasingly — and fittingly — turns red, including an old car with “Mood Valiant” scribbled all over it, which pops from white to red in the final moments of the clip.

In a statement, Saalfield explained the inspiration behind “Red Room,” saying, “My vocal booth had a red light in it, and I was thinking about my old house that had all this red-colored glass in it. When the sun set in my room at a certain hour my whole room was red.”

Drummer Perrin Moss added that “Red Room” came together quicker than any other song Hiatus Kaiyote has made: “Essentially it was just having fun, man. We were warm, we were in another country. Of course, not knowing there was a big pandemic coming, the context of the ‘red room’ now and what that means to everyone sitting in isolation is kind of relevant.”

“Red Room” is the second offering off Mood Valiant, following “Get Sun,” which was released in March. Mood Valiant is Hiatus Kaiyote’s first album in six years, following 2015’s Choose Your Weapon.