Elsy Wameyo Shares New Single 'Piny Lara'

Nairobi-born, Adelaide-based singer, rapper and producer Elsy Wameyo has shared “Piny Lara” a hypnotic mission statement from the rising artist, Wameyo describes the emotion behind the song “as though the enemy has tied ropes to your arms and legs, and pulls the ropes from left to right, tearing you apart. The feeling of a world that wants to consume you.”

The single comes on the heels of a momentous 2023 for the rising artist, who supported Genesis Owusu across Australia, appeared at Falls Festival and Lost Paradise, and took home six awards at the South Australia Music Awards for Best Studio Engineer/Producer, Music Video, Song, Solo Artist & Release of the year for her debut EP Nilotic. She capped off the year with Triple J Unearthed's Artist of the Year accolade.

The success came at a cost, with the grueling touring schedule resulting in exhaustion and disillusionment with her creative path, adopting a misanthropic worldview which in turn led her to crisis of faith. Wameyo made the decision to retreat to her ancestral home in Kenya, resting and reconnecting with her creative self.

She built a team of close confidants and collaborators, including Polycarp Otieno, Wuod Omollo (who sings the chorus of “Piny Lara” in traditional Luo) and Ywaya Tajiri. The group locked away in Kenya's Naivasha region, writing, sharing, and recording ideas. The result is a powerful exploration of personal identity, spirituality, and the struggle to exist in this modern world. 

Born in Nairobi and hailing from the Nilotic tribes of Kenya, Adelaide-based Elsy Wameyo embraces her cultural heritage through her musical offerings. Her self-produced 2022 debut EP Nilotic was hailed as a game-changer and praised by The Guardian, Acclaim, NME, Fashion Journal, & Complex for its incisive lyrics and impressive production.

A bilateral journey of spirituality and personal growth, the EP sought to claim back, fix and uproot the world's evil while processing frustration and sadness through music. Informed by an Adelaide upbringing and singing in church choirs from an early age, Wameyo posed questions to her heritage and the equity of societal structures as she unraveled her self-identity across six self-produced tracks.

The EP's success propelled her on to tours with Grammy award-winner Printz Board, Maségo, Sampa the Great, Genesis Owusu, Ruel and Adrian Eagle, among others.

Honing her production over the course of 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement had a profound effect on Wameyo's writing. In an interview with NME, she shared “It's one of those things where as much as it's happening in the US a lot of these things are happening in Australia – Australia just knows how to hide it.”

Following on from January's virtuosic “Sinner” release and its compelling video, “Piny Lara” sees Elsy expand on key themes: the temptations of our material world, the push and pull of external forces on our spiritual and emotional wellbeing, and the struggle to maintain ‘saintliness' or purity when surrounded by degradation and grief. 

Photo by Holyziner