Kuna Maze is a producer from Lyon, France, but now based in Brussels. He got his start in the mid-2010s, often pairing up with fellow producer Nikitch to work on projects. He previously put out projects on Cascade Records, but he moved over to Tru Thoughts in 2020 when he and Nikitch released Debuts. His most recent solo release came in 2021, when he dropped the EP called My Fish is Burning. Now he’s back with a full-length solo album, Night Shift.

Kuna Maze has already released a lot of music in his still young career, but one listen to Night Shift will let you know that this project marks a different direction for the producer. Previous projects have explored instrumental hip hop, house, and electronic music, but never until this album has he leaned so heavily in the direction of broken beat. It’s cool, sophisticated, late night jazz-influenced dance music, the soundtrack for those magical evenings where the good vibes and good music keep flowing and you just want to keep it going until the sun comes up. To achieve this sound, Kuna Maze is working with musicians like Midva, Reinel Bakole, and Steve Spacek. They all contribute in different ways, but the common thread is that they all blend seamlessly into the greater vision for the album that Kuna Maze had and give it just the right amount of spice. That more than anything is what this album is all about – this music that flows from track to track, with all sorts of musical intricacies, jazz/funk grooves and electronic rhythms, but it is always about the bigger picture, the overall soundscape of the album. Kuna Maze is creating a vibe from the opening seconds of the album, one that is intriguing and inviting, and then he’s just developing that and exploring it in a really compelling fashion over the rest of the project.

Night Shift is an excellent next step for Kuna Maze. He’s already shown us over various projects that he can make some interesting instrumental hip hop and electronic music, but now he’s shown us in a real way that he can throw down with some broken beat as well.