Oan Kim Releases Leftfield New Jazz Track 'Mambo'

Mambo is the latest single from Oan Kim’s upcoming album ‘Oan Kim & the Dirty Jazz’. Inspired by the likes of Archie Shepp and Charles Lloyd, Oan’s inimitable jazz saxophone style is neatly entwined in this mysterious and minimal track.

The single follows on from the first release of the album Wong Kar Why, which features French musician Edward Perraud. The album was produced by Oan himself in his home studio in Paris, with Oan playing saxophone and guitar throughout. On Mambo, he explains ‘as with most of this album I wanted to mix different genres. It all started with the guitar and bass line alla Nick Cave or Timber Timbre. This bass line really sets a particular mood of subdued tension, that I wanted to do a jazz saxophone track on.’

Also singing on the track, Oan added ‘the lyrics describe a compulsive liar enjoying the joy and laughter that his lies provoke’. ‘I called it Mambo because it reminds me of music from the Mambo era and I liked the connotations, but it’s clearly not a mambo per se’.

Oan’s compelling sound palette follows from studies at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the Bill Evans Piano Academy, whilst also being fascinated by contemporary music and the indie scene in which he played for a number of years with electro-rock duo Chinese Army and rock band Film Noir.

Having pursued a career as a filmmaker and photographer in parallel to his music, the multifaceted creative has won awards such as Silver Horn of the Krakow Film Festival, Emerging Documentary Filmmaker at DMZ festival, Swiss Life 4 Hands Award and more, as well as being a co-founding member of one of the foremost photo agencies in France, MYOP Agency.

Bringing together his musical and artistic influences into a melting pot of creativity, Oan’s passion for music and filmmaking is evident with the mesmerizing music video for Mambo. Featuring two contemporary dancers, the video showcases the ‘dynamics of seduction within a dance number’. Inspired by a mix of Pina Bausch and Fred Astaire, the video aims to show ‘where a couple is gaging each other, getting closer, pushing back, pulling closer, embracing, controlling the other, or falling into each other's arms’, whilst also keeping the urban settings of dance similar to in the film Pina by Wim Wenders. 

The dance is based on these ‘push/pull dynamics’, borrowing elements of ballroom dancing that match the retro elements of the music.

Mambo, the second single from the upcoming album ‘Oan Kim & The Dirty Jazz’, is available now on all major platforms.