'Pacifico Waves' by Joel Sarakula (yacht soul)

Joel Sarakula is a European-based Australian artist who writes, produces and sings soulful pop, gazing out at a contemporary world through vintage glasses, vintage threads and long blond hair: think Ray Manzarek fronting a 70s soul band. His music is informed by a rich, 1970s-inspired palette, drawing on soft-rock, funk and disco influences – sunny, uptempo jams for darker times. He may look like a long-lost Gibb brother but at live concerts an irreverent sense of humour is always there just below the fringe.

Born in Sydney, currently based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (via London) and international in outlook, Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway before finally establishing his career in the UK and Europe in 2012. After spending 10 years based in London, he moved to The Canary Islands at the height of the pandemic. His experiences of island life lead to the creation of his upcoming album Island Time (due Jan 20, 2023).

His previous albums Companionship (2020), Love Club (2018), The Imposter (2015) and The Golden Age (2013) have racked up generous plays, often on rotation across national UK and European radio and got him noticed in The New York Times, The Independent (UK), The Irish Times, Shindig! (UK), Stern (Germany), Rolling Stone Germany, El Pais (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald.

Joel Sarakula is regular fixture on the festival and club circuit having performed at SXSW, Primavera, Reeperbahn Festival, Glastonbury and soul-funk oriented festivals like Imaginafunk and Blackisback. Ever the internationalist, he tours with pickup bands sourced from each territory he plays in: a Barcelona band for Spain, a Berlin band for Germany and so forth. This cross-cultural exchange is a tribute to the 1960s and 70s when world travelling soul and pop artists from the US did the same and and guarantees that his live shows remain fresh, exciting and often unpredictable.