KAINA - “Anybody Can Be In Love”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With…Odette, Ambar Lucid, Jhene Aiko

Cooled R&B artist KAINA is lining up her sophomore full-length It Was A Home for release this March, already previewed by a trio of woozy tracks exploring different sides of her soul core. “Casita” pulls from Latin pop and trip-hop influences, gliding through romantic melodies over a breezy pocket that builds to a melodramatic, cinematic close. Minimal, bubbling classic pop undermines “Come Back as a Flower” within ambient, bedroom air while latest single “Anybody Can Be in Love” is a celebration of inclusivity build on a low-key grooves and atmospherics. Seeing KAINA take a chilled-out vibe and spread its wings is impressive, highlighting what should be a  fulfilling full-length coinciding with KAINA’s SXSW 2022 appearance. (Kevin McStravick) 

2020 Review: KAINA’s debut full-length Next to the Sun is a subtle, detailed exploration of alternative R&B, a mix of chillwave experimentation amid more traditional balladry. Trip hop rhythms and a creeping jazz bassline underpin the mysterious title track, a far trip from the lonely gospel reflection of opener “House”. The weirder the better - check out her six-plus-minute collaboration with fellow SXSW artist Sen Morimoto “Could Be a Curse” for a hypnotic, bilingual jam that smoothly floats like a dreamed incarnation of a smoky jazz club sixty years past.