Reviews and accolades:
WEAK 180 VR as launched live on BBC Introducing in The West
“Makala is creating some of the most interesting music around right now. Haunting and beautiful; her sound draws from both downtempo ElectroPop and oriental instrumentation to create something truly unique. ” Electronic Rumors – read the full
Feel The Rush video/song review
“The video for Feel The Rush is simply hypnotic, moving with grace between each scene whilst portraying such a powerful sense of domination…” Jessica Holmes, full review on Wordplay Magazine .
“An avant-garde edge…Intricately crafted and honestly delivered.”
More of the A Little Deeper review on Electronic Rumors
“Unique, audacious and tense, but at the same time honest and solidly crafted.”
A Liittle Deeper , The Flux Presents
“The melodies and dystopian ambience chosen here do a lot to recall zany greats like Kate Bush or Tori Amos…solid songwriting which could even mark a turning point in her underground pop career.” Loki Lillistone, Bristol Live read more on page 29 here
Imperfections: 4 in Beat 100 Charts has won Gold A&R Awards for :
• Favourite – A&R team’s favourite video.
• Song – for a well written original song.
• Video – for a high quality original video with good production values
“Her latest effort is one moody number, with its confident cruising pace, and visceral delivery. Makala always makes sure her unique attitude shines through – with this track being no exception.” Loki Lillistone, Editor of Bristol Live Magazine (See full review p23)
“One of the most innovative artists out of Bristol Makala Cheung releases my favourite single from her debut album ‘River’, ‘Caught Up’ and the video is a stroke of genius.” Kwame Laryea Read more
More Press coverage, radio play and interviews
See the review blog about Bristol Beat & Canton Hop here
See the article about Bristol Beat on The Bristol Post here.
See the blog about it on ALittleBristol here.
Makala’s music and videos have featured on Bristol’s Big Screen at Millennium Square for the last two years during Harbourside Festival (pictured below).
In September 2015 Makala put on an East Asian inspired festival for her Moon album launch Mini Moon Festival
In 2015 Makala’s work was exhibited at The Island as part of When Death Comes, which included poetry, lyrics, music and even music videos all responding to the topic of loss. The lyric design was in collaboration with Bart Designs, and videos with Marcus Way.
Makala also performed a special more traditional acoustic version of her music at the exhibition event. (see the video on the performances page).
Musical influences include Banks, FKA Twigs, M.I.A, Aaliyah, Dizzee Rascal, Lauryn Hill, Katy B. She’s been compared to Kate Bush, Madonna, and Bjork. Her uncle Chow Chong, was known in Hong Kong as the Father of Cantonese Pop, as he released the first Chinese song in Cantonese (rather than the much more widely spoken Mandarin).
The team :
AJ Rousell (drums and live Musical Director)
Phantom Trophies (co-production, live bass/synth)
Matt Wheeler (live keys)
Marcus Way (music video Director, recent photography & design, artwork)
More about Makala following the main page
KALA CHNG 張 