HAAi

For many, 2020 was a somber, still, introspective period. For HAAi – the Australian-born, London-based DJ and producer – it was no different. For someone so used to spending multiple nights a week in the club, surrounded by sweat, strobes, and dancing, lockdown felt particularly weird.

“Before the pandemic, I was playing a lot of really long sets. I was so immersed in music all the time”, she says now. “I love touring! I have ADHD, so I feel like I have the stamina to play late shows and go straight to the airport. So much of how my brain is wired lends itself to the life that I have”. When all of that was taken away, HAAi threw herself into producing, mixing, and writing tracks to compensate. “I would never have taken that much time off before.”

The result is “Baby, We’re Ascending”, a 13-track journey that takes you along for the ride – from hardcore, echoey beats to sweeping, colorful synth lines and bright, warped vocal samples. The album, set for release on Mute, features a vast and eclectic array of voices, including Jon Hopkins, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, singer Obi Franky, and spoken word poet and activist Kai Isaiah Jamal.

HAAi’s ascent has been swift from the start. After launching a couple of well-received EPs on her own label, Coconut Beats – “Feel Good” and “Motorik Voodoo Bush Doof Musik” – she released “Systems Up, Windows Down” on Mute in 2019, followed by “Put Your Head Above the Parakeets” in 2020. “That’s when it all kicked off”, says HAAi. “Baby, We’re Ascending” marks her debut album and her first full-length release since clubs have reopened.

With venues open and flights resuming, HAAi has spent a lot of time being back in the DJ booth, surrounded by noise and beats and people. It’s where she feels most comfortable, most herself. “You get to play a party where you feel like it's your birthday every night”, she says. “It's important to take breaks now and then. From now on, it's going to be crazy busy”.