Flight Mode

"Flight Mode" / "Midnight Air" is the debut, double-A-sided single from Mr Sanka, which will see a release on Beat Club/PMR Records.

Airing today, "Flight Mode" is arguably one of zestiest-sounding tracks to be written about a flight to London: seemingly as inspired by Supertramp-meets-Paul Simon via the bass-driven prowess of Daft Punk, or the melodic guitar lines of Phoenix.

The first thing you need to know about Mr Sanka is that he's not French. He's also not a 'he'. Pulling from three diverse life journeys, Mr Sanka flourishes with a cosmopolitan diversity that belies nationality. Dutch singer and visual artist Nick van Hofwegen, together with London-based producers Mustafa and James, found each other by chance when they were all working in Los Angeles. They immediately hit it off, drawing on their mutual love of classic-era 60s and 70s pop, French House, and soon formed a band which was pitched somewhere between the two.

The long-haired leader of the pack is singer Nick van Hofwegen, who you might recall as frontman of music-meets-art project Young & Sick (Harvest/Capitol). Young & Sick has already earned Nick fans in Skrillex, Maroon 5 and Foster The People (whom he's designed artwork for) as well as former touring buddy Chance The Rapper. Nick's an artist in the truest sense – his music is so vibrant and visual because it's the brainchild of a trained graphic designer, who fled a small village in The Netherlands to explore Berlin, before spending a few formative years in London, Brooklyn and winding up in LA at one point with just $100 in his pocket. In Mr Sanka, a band named after a character in Cool Runnings, he’s gearing up to win the race.