LEAPING TIGER: GODSPEED!

They say New Zealand is an export economy, and after winning the Aotearoa Music Award for Electronic Artist in 2022, Leaping Tiger has become the latest of the country’s high quality exports. But don’t think for a second that the now London-based has forgotten his roots. His third album, Godspeed!, might as well have a “Made in New Zealand” sticker stamped on the cover, as he, along with his crop of kiwi contributors, interweave. aspects of both hip-hop and electronica in a way that is both new and familiar. I was lucky enough to catch with Jacob on release day via zoom to chat about the album, and what it meant for the multi-faceted artist and producer.

The album opens to the nostalgic sound of a PlayStation 2 powering up, intercut with a compilation of sonic samples, moments of bliss and memories from childhood until the audioscape is cut into by a familiar glitching stutter. The album grounds you as much in its feelings as it does its sound.  

“That was something where I thought, “This would be a great way to just start it off”.  I knew that it would be something that just a humongous amount of people would just instantly recognise and really relate to.

That track is just sample ridden of just these things that are really specific to me. There's samples of this random video from youtube of this girl trying acid for the first time and like this one sample of like Steve Carell in the Get Smart movie, which for me is a movie I’ve watched maybe like 1000 times.”

it's so cool to have an open to an electronic album which is grounded in so many emotions. Leaping Tiger is able to pull on different emotional strings in your head with samples the same way a folk singer would with lyrics.

“I had to find ways to trigger those emotions, doing it sonically instead of with traditional songwriting because lyrics aren't exactly my strong suit and that's not my main thing.”

But Leaping Tiger does dabble in lyrics on his R&B breakup/hypeup track “New Psyche”.  This album is the return to digital form for the formerly shelved track, and it’s obvious this album is a collection of tunes from a producer purposefully pulling from different parts of their back catalogue. 

“I thought that would kind of reflect what I was going through, trying to figure out what it all meant.  Last year was this transitional period, kind of upending my life and just moving to the most foreign place that I possibly could. there were like a few songs that were. written in the moment, but then other ones where I was like, oh, this didn't really make the cut for another project. The first track, Exeter, sonically, is the same as the last album because I made it at the same time.”

Leaping Tiger might be currently based in london, but make no mistake, ‘Godspeed!’ is one of the most Aotearoa grounded albums I've heard in a while. Whether it be the  Fat Freddy’s style horns and sax on Protagonist or the more ‘on the nose rendition’ of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” the Kiwi roots are deeply grounded in the motu. He says that all of this is quite intentional.

“I guess I knew that I was leaving I thought I'm gonna kind of make this one for home, about home and have the vibe of home - because I'm not gonna be there for the foreseeable future. So I thought everything that I love about home, I'll make it sound like that. I'll only feature my favorite artists from back home and people that I've come up with in the scene and worked with before and people that I admire.”

The features list reflects the deep rooted feel of the album. Almost all are long-time collaborators and local heroes. There are uncredited contributions from J Y Lee of Yoko Zuna and Avantdale Bowling Club, as well as a return from the ubiquitous talents Church and AP, not to mention a birthday feature from PollyHill. In saying that, there is a clear duality that exists with the features in the sample, namely the intercom of a plane landing at Heathrow Airport.

“That was my flight, getting into London for the first time. I’d never been here before. So it was cool to get that in there, especially because I just fully recorded that at the time as well.”

In the same way the Air New Zealand landing music grounds you on your return home, the sample reminds you that Leaping Tiger is drawing on their roots but stepping out into a new environment. 

“It’s been very different from back home, which I appreciate. A whole sort of new experiences and the kind of situations that I've been thrown in, and the kind of people that I've been meeting, it's been really, really cool and refreshing.”

The ability to pick up your life and transplant it on the other side of the world is not to be underestimated. It's easy for a New Zealand act to stay embedded in the fabric of our isolated bubble, but growth, personally and artistically, comes from throwing yourself outside of your comfort zone and learning to acclimatise to a new environment. Jacob is fully aware of this, and hopes other New Zealand acts can see the motives behind the move.

“Sometimes when an artist leaves they don't quite get the response that they should back home, when really they’re hometown heroes! I feel that for artists when they leave, it's not a ‘fuck you’ to back home, it's just because they want to share their music and have new experience abroad. New Zealand should be proud to have so many artists that get to the point in their career where they’re ready to go abroad and grow.”

You can check out the album, Godspeed! HERE
And check out Leaping Tiger on Instagram HERE

Thanks to Jacob for taking the time to talk about the album!