The British electronic duo comprises Chris Davids and Liam Ivory. Photo: SUPPLIED
One of the founding members of Maribou State admits working towards the release of their new album helped "keep him sane" as he dealt with health complications.
Following a seven-year absence, the British electronic duo - comprising Chris Davids and Liam Ivory - made a long-awaited return to the fold earlier this year with the release of their third studio album Hallucinating Love.
The pair were one of the drawcard closing acts of the "hangar" stage at last weekend's Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch.
Recording and performing has come to a halt in recent years after Davids started experiencing chronic headaches at the back end of 2021.
A year later he was diagnosed with a rare condition called chiari malformation that causes pressure on the brain.
Speaking to RNZ, Davids said getting through the recording process had been a purgative experience for him.
"The past few years have been challenging and very difficult," he said.
"It's been cathartic and definitely one of the things that has kept me sane during the past few years.
"Especially at this point now the music has come out, it's made a massive shift."
As the completion of their album drew closer, Davids underwent surgery in November 2023.
Hallucinating Love marks their first full-length offering since 2018's Kingdoms in Colour, a seven-year interval in which time has been accentuated by the pandemic.
"It does pose challenges when you do spread stuff out over that period of time," Davids said.
"The first song was written in 2020 and the last was written the end of 2023.
"It's quite a big gap and so many different experiences."
Maribou State's Chris Davids and Liam Ivory at Hagley Park before they took to the stage at Electric Avenue. Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
Despite the intermittent nature of production over this time, both Davids and Ivory aimed to "streamline" things when mixing to ensure the final product sounded cohesive.
However, some fans have observed distinctions with certain tracks, whose genesis date back to a simpler time.
"There's a song on the album called 'Eko's', a lot of people have picked up that it sounds quite separate to the rest of the album, because we were in a different time," Davids said.
"Even though the sonic threads are there, you can't change that emotional quality."
Part of the journey of the album was casting the net "far and wide" with collaborators.
Regular accomplices Holly Walker and Jack Sibley's North Downs again feature, but the butterly soul vocals of Gaidaa and Andreya Triana also come on board.
Triana has previously turned heads courtesy of impressive guest appearances with production virtuosos Flying Lotus, Mr Scruff and Bonobo.
"We first heard her on Bonobo's Black Sands album," Ivory said.
"That was a record to us at the time that was super influential, and we've always loved her voice."
The pair have also shown a fondness for some of New Zealand's leading names.
Sharing the bill with Fat Freddy's Drop, a group that continues to boast an esteemed profile in Europe, was one of the main catalysts for Maribou State's eagerness for Electric Avenue.
The Brits also handpicked the track 'Hours' for their 2020 Fabric mix, a slice of jazz-infused breakbeat soul by New Zealand multi-instrumentalist Julien Dyne featuring Ladi6.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2025, Maribou State are all about making up for lost time.
Having completed their journey down under in recent days, the pair are relishing the voyage ahead, involving more festivals and "lots and lots of gigs" across the globe.
"We're just basically touring solidly as much as possible from now until next summer and a little bit beyond that," Ivory said.
"We've been out of the market for so long…so we're just going to make the most of it."
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