Neo-soul crew SHÆLIN first unveiled their globally adored extended-player “Ana Hata” back in November of last year, bringing with it a host of support and new fans from around the world. Extending the project to audiences across the music-scape, the outfit elected a select few of the industry’s most promising and authentic voices – Hugo Payen, DJ Phantom and Samba De La Muerte – to reimagine their highlight tracks “To Untie A Knot”, “Ain’t No Matter”, and “Body”. Completing the “Ana Hata Extended” EP, budding French producer Ténéré serves us his sumptuous never-before-heard take on the stunning “River Of Gold”. The track is a measured and soulful number, portraying the spiritual pull of love and faith; a common lyrical topic within their catalogue of social change-oriented narratives. Accompanied by an iridescent music video that highlighted divine femininity in all its glory, the track presented a synthesis of dreamy soundscapes beneath their fervid vocals. Ténéré’s remix pivots stylistically from its counterpart, revealing a groove-inducing rhythm that nods to influences of funk without straying too far from SHÆLIN’s unique lyricism. Unequivocally cool from start to finish, the French producer has perfectly captured the original’s sultry nature within his edit. DMCWORLD dives in for a world exclusive…
Welcome to DMC World Mag and thanks for taking the time to chat to us today! First off, for those of our readers who are not yet familiar with you, could you give us an overview of SHÆLIN and your music?
It’s a pleasure for us ! Thank YOU! SHAELIN is an artistic and spiritual community composed of 6 singers and a keyboard player. We’re based in France, in Tours more precisely. The collective’s roots extend from Mozambique to Martinique via Italy, Cameroon, Reunion Island or Vietnam… We are from all around the world! Tours, in Loire Valley, is a creative city where you can meet a lot of musicians and artists.
SHAELIN was born in January 2017, between two rehearsals of contemporary gospel – we used to sing together in different choirs for years. One day, Dahlie brought us an RnB track she had written, it was “Miracles”. We recorded the track and made a video clip for it! Olivier Linglet heard about us, he contacted us really quickly to become our manager and publisher. It was a good surprise because we didn’t expect anything of this first release, “Miracles” was just a creative impulsion.
You just released your ‘Ana Hata Extended’ EP, a remix-fuelled follow up to your 2021 ‘Ana Hata’ EP. What made you want to continue the project and open the music up to other artists?
We already love to collaborate with different artists. We usually call upon various talented and inspiring creators and musicians for live sessions, for our visuals, to work with us on costumes or scenic elements etc. ‘Ana Hata’ is an EP about unconditional love and our ability to spread it around, it was interesting to let other artists bring their own vision to our tracks. It was a way to share a little piece of our universe and let it merge with other planets.
We’re also joined by Ténéré who delivered a remix of your track “River Of Gold” for the EP. Ténéré, what was the process like for you and is this in the lane of your usual sound?
I love the remix exercise, because it forces me to change my production habits: Not starting from scratch changes a lot of things in the creative process. I loved the original version of “River Of Gold”, so rather than trying to change it up a bit, I preferred to come up with a totally different, faster version so I could play it in a set.
How long did the arrangement take from start to finish and what were your initial thoughts when you first heard the source material?
It was quite fast for me because I knew from the start that I wanted to do a fast version. But it involved speeding up the singers’ voices, and I didn’t know how that would be perceived by Shælin… Fortunately, they liked the result!
SHÆLIN, as singer/songwriters and musicians, how does it feel to hear a producer put their stamp on one of your tracks?
It is surprising and exciting! It’s also good to know that the audience of the artists with whom we work will have access to our music through remixes. We love the universe of Ténéré and we were honoured that he accepted our proposal to remix our track “River of gold”
Ténéré can you share some of your favourite studio gear with us and what you used specifically for this remix?
I always start with my Prophet 08 which has followed me since I started making music. I use presets I made years ago that are pretty much related to my sound today. I also added a bassline but that I had to edit massively because I’m a very poor bass player haha
SHÆLIN, your lyrics are incredibly poignant and meaningful, are these a joint effort between band members or is there someone who takes the lead in this area?
Everybody composes in the group, but we have the chance to realize through the subjects we tackle in our texts that we share the same values, the same philosophy. We are all so different, with origins from all over the world and at the same time we have the feeling that we are looking in the same direction. It’s a very powerful feeling. We have the sensation of being a family of souls that has naturally recomposed itself here below!
Do you think there will be more opportunities for you both to work together again?
Of course ! We’ve been friends with Ténéré for quite a few years now. Actually Ténéré had already collaborated with Clara Sergent, a singer who used to be part of Shælin at the beginning, so chances are we will work on more music together.
What’s next up in terms of releases for both of you?
We are currently focused on our new live show, a mix of urban dance and black music. We are really happy to be back on stage after these difficult years. A new track will be released on June 1st as a live session so stay tuned!
(Ténéré) I’m working on remixes for very different artists, it should be out soon, and I have several singles coming up on Parisian label, Nowadays Records.
Can you both leave us with a little parting message or some words of wisdom?
Thank you for reading and listening to us! We will continue to do our part as hummingbirds to help make the world a better place.
Have a great day! LOVE YOU – Shælin
Thank you for sharing our music across borders, as an artist, it’s the most exhilarating feeling you can feel – Ténéré
