In an era where electronic music often chases the next trend, Simina Grigoriu stands apart by weaving narratives that feel both timeless and urgent. With her latest single, ‘Temple Dancer’, a collaboration with the ethereal Kelli Ali - British vocalist, guitarist, painter, and former frontwoman of trip-hop pioneers Sneaker Pimps - Simina’s Kuukou Records delivers something that transcends the usual club fare. This is a track that doesn’t just move bodies; it commands them, as if invoking some ancient rite beneath pulsating strobes.

Ali, whose haunting vocals helped catapult Sneaker Pimps’ seminal album Becoming X into 90s trip-hop history with hits like “6 Underground”, brings a voice steeped in decades of underground mystique. Since parting ways with the band, she has carved out a solo career that traverses electronica, folk, and cinematic soundscapes - with collaborations ranging from John Densmore of The Doors to Max Richter. Her multidisciplinary approach to music and art infuses her work with a rare emotional and narrative depth, something palpably felt in ‘Temple Dancer’.

‘Temple Dancer’ unfolds like a sonic parable. From the opening moments, Simina’s meticulous percussion patterns ripple with an almost shamanic precision, interlocking with a restrained, hypnotic pulse that echoes like the rhythmic heartbeat of some forgotten temple. Against this backdrop, Ali’s vocals emerge - not as a mere hook or embellishment - but as a haunting incantation, weaving through the track with a spectral grace. Her voice is layered, sometimes fragmented, occasionally ethereal, at times direct, creating an unsettling tension between the corporeal and the otherworldly.