MHYSA

MHYSA presents a live audiovisual experience based on her acclaimed debut album fantasii.

 

Constructing alternate worlds where black femmes can claim and even languish in their softness, MHYSA takes her audience on a journey through her fantasies and inspirations, fashioning the elements of her artistic practice – pop and poetic lyrics, gospel-blues, experimental club sound, glitchy, collaged production and the theatrics of black femme R&B divas – into life-giving performance.

 

The show opens with sets by experimental dance DJ Cõvco, and audio and visual collaborators clubcouture.

MHYSA's atmospheric ballads and discordant jams have found a home on the NON and Halcyon Veil labels. Based in Philadelphia and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, the vocalist and producer started performing as a youngster in church and at school. At college, her creative energy shifted to poetry and songwriting. In 2015, she made her recorded debut on NON Worldwide, with the Chino Amobi collaboration ‘Power Cuts’. Hivemind, an EP led by an update of ‘Jezebel’ by Sade that rendered the source material nearly undetectable beyond the lyrics, followed in 2016. fantasii, a full-length recorded for Rabit's Halcyon Veil label, appeared the following year, acknowledged as one of 2017's best albums by publications such as The Wire, The Quietus, and FACT.

 

A fiercely competent young DJ who blows away any room she plays, Cõvco is by far one of London’s most original and exciting DJs. Her sets combine a high-energy mix of footwork edits and experimental dance music which often result in a frenzied dancefloor experience. With recent explosive sets at the likes of London’s Tropical Waste parties and after party for the PAN show at the ICA, as well as a much-anticipated set supporting RP Boo in London, Cõvco has an exciting year ahead.

 

clubcouture is one of the shifting monikers of Curtly Thomas. Playing with the limitations of the club space, Thomas experiments with how music is performed by using competing references, samples and triggers to engage the audience. As part of an ongoing collaboration with artist Adam Gallagher, together they work to disrupt and jam audio and visual meaning.