The first time Max Zaska and Melina Malone performed Ever Cross Your Mind was exactly two years ago in a tiny chapel in Paris, the very week they wrote the bones of it. Fast forward to last September in Cork when the neo-soul banger was given the full ZASKA band treatment and recorded live. Now ZASKA (feat. Melina Malone) Ever Cross Your Mind (Live At The Triskel) will be released as a single on 23 February as part of a forthcoming live ZASKA EP.
With inspiration from the UK jazz scene, Ever Cross Your Mind is an upbeat, danceable fusion of soul and jazz with afro-esque rhythms influenced by Kokoroko and Nubiyan Twist. Melina Malone’s soaring soulful vocals call back to Sophie Faith and Nai Palm from Hiatus Kaiyote. The 8-piece ZASKA band with Max Zaska’s signature guitar work, 3-piece horns, and incredibly tight rhythm section perform so flawlessly that you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a studio recording if not for the ending applause.
The recording last September was the result of the WRITE RECORD PERFORM residency awarded to Max Zaska from the Triskel Arts Centre and the Improvised Music Company in their support of Irish jazz. The project enabled Max Zaska to complete the creation of new songs with Melina Malone, shiv, Gemma Dunleavy, and jarjarjr, and record them live in front of an audience in the 18th century Christchurch in Cork, some of which will be released as the 5-song Live At The Triskel EP.
“When I wrote Ever Cross Your Mind with Max, I wanted the lyrics to have the feeling of not handling something properly in the past and being left with regret and worry about what you could have done differently,” said Malone. Like Ever Cross Your Mind, some of the other collaborations on the EP also began at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris in 2022 as part of Zaska’s month-long writing residency.
“I’m incredibly grateful to the Triskel Arts, the IMC, and the CCI for their support of myself and all of the other independent songwriters and musicians involved in bringing these songs to life,” explained Zaska.
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