Loya

Loya is a new project by French producer Sébastien Lejeune which allows him to research his own cultural heritage, as a native of La Réunion, as well other tribes, bands and singers originating from the Indian Ocean.

For the past five years, Loya has been exploring the musical environment of the sister islands of the Mascarenes (Indian Ocean), breaking down the boundaries between electronic music and traditional music in a globalized world.

Growing up in the great melting pot of La Reunion, Loya was exposed to a number of cultures and rhythms that fueled his curiosity. Walking in the footsteps of Ti Fock and other pioneers of electric maloya, he was quick to tap into the rough materials of his native island, from tamarind wood to corrugated iron, to bring out a myriad of sounds.

Settling in metropolitan France in the mid-90s, Loya’s first encounter with electronic music happened upon discovering acts such as Autechre, Plaid and Boards of Canada. Soon, Loya was drawing from Intelligent Dance Music and bleep techno to build complex rhythm arrangements and ethereal melodies. Throughout this research, Loya gradually managed to tame the erratic nature of his machines to summon states of trance that reminded him of the music he grew up listening to as native of the Mascarene.

From this route through the meanders of contemporary electronic music, Loya developed a trademark sound based on triple time beats, pointillist sound design and a taste for experimentation. Such distinctive features can already be heard on his first self-produced album "Eruption", released in 2014 and the EP "Indian Ocean", released in 2016 on Mawimbi Records, although “Corail” is his most accomplished work and a testament of his clear talent.

Exploring the blue depths of the Indian Ocean with the fluency of a native, the ten compositions of "Coral" unfold like an archipelago. Showcasing the talents of traditional musicians such as Mauritius ravanne icon Menwar and Madagascan accordion master Régis Gizavo (R.I.P), “Corail” finds a fine balance between the soft, velvety ripples of modular synthesizers and the rawness of frantic percussion motifs and local field recordings.