A vocal hook sets the tone for an Afro House collab which is all about repetition and sustained movement.
Juliet Ariel and Karim Naas centre 11:11 on a simple invitation: “meet me in the moonlight, one more time”. Released via Paraíso Records the track is a melodic pop song with rolling Afro House drums, a track about the pull of two people who keep finding their way back to each other in the dark.
Juliet wrote the hook first and Naas built the whole thing around that. That sequence is key; the vocal is the focal point of the record and the percussion is what keeps the momentum going without any need for a traditional build and drop. The arrangement is what keeps the tension in and it’s the repeated melody that carries the emotion.
The title is obviously playing on the ‘see 11:11 and make a wish’ thing. That fleeting moment becomes a recurring point of contact, the song’s very structure being a representation of the relationship at its heart.
Born in Kinshasa, raised in Paris and now based in Australia, Juliet works in the realm of contemporary African electronic music and pop. She’s had over 30m streams to her name with releases including Take Me With You and Holiday and has worked with Soa Mattrix, the Palm Brothers and SiGNAL.
Naas (who’s based between London and Paris) has experience in Afro House, disco house and dance. His most recent release is Samba with ZHIKO which made the Beatport chart and got radio play across Europe.
11:11, their vocal space opens; the rhythm stays in motion. The point of the production is in the restraint: each return to the hook deepens the nocturnal pull.