London-based Norwegian singer-songwriter Kari Johnson is deep in the weeds working on her debut album as Farao, an alluring and haunting chanteuse whose aesthetic and sound is hard to pin down. She seems in a way like Björk but her music is less weird and far more accessible. She sounds ethereal like Lykke Li but stronger and with more depth. She wears glitter on her eyes but she's absolutely not Kesha. It's easy for the industry to sell someone as "the next" someone but with "Hunter", Farao makes her case that she's an artist all her own.
Farao's lyrics are dark yet somehow sweet. "Hunter" begins with Farao asking "when will you learn to do like I tell you." Despite a trickle of synthesized melody that bring you in, a bit of rock takes over and Farao gets darker, saying she'll hunt down her lover and haunt them in the night. And this is all because she wants him "by her side." That's some dark shit. Yet somehow, it's incredibly alluring. That might be the only way to describe Farao at this point in the game.
Farao
Hunter
- Arts & Crafts Production
- May 4, 2015