Kozen Drop A Color but Edgy EP

A vibrant new release from Kozen delivers a fresh blend of alternative and indie rock mixed with pop-coated and colorful guitar work that all breathe different life into the record by bringing in different approaches and even genres at times.

This is an EP that spans six tracks in length, and there are definitely quite a few surprising aspects that you hear as the release unfolds.

One of the things I like most about the Sunwaves EP is the sheer fact that there are no two songs that are alike.

As I mentioned earlier, each track brings something a bit fresh to the table and showcases a different side of how the band writes their music.

The record opens up with the title track, "Sunwaves" which absolutely showcases their heavier side. This is an alternative rock Banger that has plenty of edginess but still keeps to this almost vast undertone with layers of vocals that come in and out and fluctuate, bringing in these waves of intensity.

I love the sound of those heavy and edgy guitars with these flowing vocal harmonies that come into play. The vocals are always displaying such bright melodies, blending incredibly well with the heavier soundscape of the song, especially here.

Right off the bat, you notice how amazing the drama is. The drumming across this record does not just sit in the pocket. It breathes life into the music itself and intensifies the electric energy the band portrays.

The drummer absolutely pushes the envelope so that the rest of the band has something great to feed off of, and that makes everything robust and excitable.

You have a female vocalist who lays in gorgeous melodies and harmonies, and a male vocalist who also lays in callback vocals, and between the two of them, they create a great aesthetic.

The guitar work on this track alone is unbelievable. There's a crazy guitar solo section that really showcases some insane musicianship, and it comes across as graceful but super tight at the same time.

The following track is called "As Wide as Zen", which also does show some heaviness because it has some heavy riffs in there, but the verses have clean guitars giving off an almost funky, breezy soundscape.

This one has such a great groove to it, and it's super danceable. Between the guitars and the vocals, this track makes me think of a princess song for some reason, but with some different and heavier sides to it.

Then there is 'Bestview", which is the third track in line, and at this point, you begin to expect the unexpected because this track is unlike the first two.

This one showcases some outstanding guitar work that is as colorful as a lot of the vocals are, and some really cool time signatures that take a good minute to soak in, but feel really cool to listen to.

This one also gives you sort of a freeing, almost breezy feel, and it has this sort of positive tonality to it that makes you feel good when you listen to it.

The record goes on like this. There are always guitar sections that serve as hooks, loads of harmonies, great lead work, and really give some of the songs a bit of a sophisticated tonality.

The vocals are always a little bit bouncy but very melodic; they sit on top of the mix perfectly, and there's a dynamic balance between all the instruments and how they feed off of each other.

You can tell that this is a band that performs live really well. It's rare that you hear a record and immediately know that you want to go see this band Live, but this is one of those exceptions. This is one of those Rarities.

This is because of how well they work with each other and how they create such a natural flow when they're performing.

This was a release that speaks volumes for the band simply because they were able to put something out that has fewer walls built around it and still bent genres super well while keeping true to their sound.

They build a specific and particular kind of aesthetic throughout this release and it's the kind of band that you know is them when you hear it.

I definitely enjoyed this and again would suggest listening to this from top to bottom because just one track will not give you everything the record actually offers. You have to listen to the full EP to really gain everything that the record puts out there.

It's meant to be listened to in full.

As you're doing that, you should take a read through of our interview with the band below, as we talk about the record itself and what they've been doing.

Check out the interview with Kozen below.

Buzz Slayers: Let's talk about Sunwaves! This record was able to blend elements of alt and indie rock with an experimental side and had an outstanding energy! Where did this album come from? 

"Sunwaves" is a sort of amalgamation and summary of everything we have done so far as a band—a mix of new and old ideas. We put it together to summarize our history before launching us into a new era. This collection of songs is the most unapologetic fulfilment of our longtime promise to genre-bend, even while maintaining a distinctive sound. It includes contributions from current, past, and what we call "honorary" members of KOZEN, while also introducing Chandelle as a second vocalist.

There are two pieces that were written before our band even began (Terminal 3, Bestview), an expanded remake from an early release (Gazelles), and a previously unreleased b-side (BKBPT2) from the Swimming To The Stars (2014-2016) era, one song (Sunwaves) that didn't quite make it onto our debut LP A Fearful Wonder (2019), and one song written recently in the current era (As Wide As Zen).

We also have always been expansive in who we work with so we wanted to represent that flexibility with guest features. One guitar solo in BKBPT2 was performed by Sheldon Fernandes from the band Polarity - basically our "big sister" band in the Toronto prog metal scene. We've played more shows with them than any other band in our scene and it felt right to finally do a collaboration. That song also features an alternative R&B singer from the Bahamas named Evin Nazya. She and I (Maxwell) are actually part of an artist collective YouTube channel and (soon to launch) podcast that explores art through the lens of personal growth. We work alongside three other creators - two visual artists and one motivational speaker - to explore how creativity contributes to a life of purpose, and there is a slight nod to this in the lyrics of the song.

Finally, we also worked with an Afropop artist from Kenya (currently based in Toronto) named Shy Musiq. The song she featured on—Gazelles—was one I had written over a decade ago based on my experiences working abroad in Kenya for a year. I felt like I hadn't fully gotten the point across in the original version so we re-imagined and extended the song, and added a couple verses with Shy (including some lyrics in Swahili) and added a much heavier finale to the end of the song. The song is largely about the struggle for women to reclaim spiritual autonomy for themselves from repressive religious institutions, and I think adding additional feminine voices to the song both musically and lyrically fulfilled what the song was always supposed to be about.

Buzz Slayers: I'm hearing a few different styles to this record! Who are some of your biggest musical influences?

Max (Vocals, Guitar, Keys): I love artists that combine lots of different styles. My biggest influences are probably Linkin Park, Issues, Becoming The Archetype, Tinashe, and Opeth. 

Jared (Drums): My biggest all time influences are Sade, Röyksopp, Turnover, and when it comes to metal stuff, As I Lay Dying and Periphery.

Jericho (Lead Guitar): In terms of how I play guitar and write music, I draw a lot of influence from Brian "Head" Welch (Korn, Love & Death), Michael Romeo (Symphony X), and As I Lay Dying.

Chandelle (Vocals): My biggest rock influences are Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, and Flyleaf. But I'm usually most influenced by what’s going on in my life.

Buzz Slayers: Do you write songs together as a band, or do you have one or two main songwriters that bring ideas back to the rest?

Usually our songs will begin with an instrumental demo by either myself (Maxwell) or Jericho (lead guitar). Jared (our drummer) will add basic drums to give the song its rhythmic structure, and from there everyone refines their parts. We almost always write online by file sharing; it has been super rare for us to jam things out in a room together apart from rehearsals. When it comes to lyrics, I'm the main writer, though I have fielded ideas and phrases from my bandmates. I almost always prefer to have music to write to. I want to understand the mood and atmosphere on a sonic level before I try to make anything propositional. Lyrics can do a lot to steal the attention in a song, so I always want mine to feel like they emerge naturally from (and point back to) the music.

Buzz Slayers: How did this all start for you as a band?

Back around 2014 or so, a bunch of seemingly unrelated connections fell into place. I (Max) had just come home from working abroad for a year and had a lot of new experiences and thoughts that I needed to get out of my head. I sent a few demos to a close friend, Kyron Newbury (Drums 2014-2016). With some encouragement from him, we started working on what would become the Swimming To The Stars (A) and (B) double EP. It seemed at first like it would just be my solo project, but as I began picking up opportunities to play live, I called on other connections. I had met Jericho in a university philosophy class a few years before and we had toyed with working on some more extreme metal stuff together. I knew he could absolutely shred so I brought him on board for some guitar work. We also ended up recruiting two good friends, Sid and Jon, who I played music with at church for a couple of years. This became the founding iteration of KOZEN before Kyron stepped down to pursue other paths, making room for Jericho's brother Jared to step in.

From there, we've had a handful of lineup changes over the years, but the essence of KOZEN has always remained a diverse group of friends creating a truly eclectic brand of forward-thinking rock music. Brett Santacona, who played bass with us for many years, unfortunately moved away early in 2024 and had to step away from the band. Around the same time, though, Chandelle expressed interest in singing with us, and became a really significant part of the vocal identity of the Sunwaves EP.

The version of the band you hear on this record is Maxwell Kozen (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Jericho Leal (Guitars), Jared Leal (Drums), and Chandelle King (Vocals). 

Buzz Slayers: Are you performing live right now? Any touring in support of the release?

During 2024, before and after the release of Sunwaves, we did play a lot of shows around Toronto and the southern Ontario region. As of right now we are on hiatus from live shows. Recent personal life changes have made the band more "long distance" than ever before in our history, so we are focused more on writing for the time being. 

Buzz Slayers: Now that this is out, what's next for you?

The very next thing for us will be a live album that we recorded last year during our touring in support of Sunwaves. Three of the songs from the EP will be featured on that live album, alongside some favourites from our back catalogue. We've been handling post-production and video editing ourselves so it's taken a while, but it was nice to be able to capture our live show in good quality. 

From there, we are headed into a bit of a new era. Sunwaves made a statement about the "middle-of-the-road" part of our sound, so we're looking to explore the extremes. Be on the lookout for an EP that expands on our pop, R&B, and soft rock influences a lot more, as well as an EP diving deeper than ever before into our metal roots.

Buzz Slayers: Who's in your headphones right now?

Max: My taste has been polarizing into extremes lately, so I'm either into really intense death metal stuff or really girly pop music. Lately I've been loving Fallujah, Alluvial, Rivers of Nihil, Amaarae, Jae Stephens, and FKA Twigs.

Jericho: I recently discovered Magdalene Rose and have been listening to her stuff a lot. I found her through Seventh Day Slumber's Fractured Paradise album (where she featured on their song "Yours Truly"), which I've also been listening to a lot lately. I've also been listening to Charity Gayle, a gospel artist. When I'm doing daily activities I tend to put on The Elder Scrolls Skyrim and Oblivion soundtracks (by Jeremy Soule), and I've also been revisiting Three Days Grace's first album and Underoath's Disambiguation album.

Jared: Right now I'm listening to a lot of Astrid, S Club 7, Turnover, Dua Lipa, and Wu Tang Clan.

Chandelle: Right now I'm probably mostly listening to Tyler The Creator, Billy Joel, Paramore, and Pink Floyd.

Buzz Slayers: What would you tell people they can expect on this release?

The Sunwaves EP is meant to be a liberating declaration of individuality, self-discovery, boundless creativity, and openness to life's experiences. If you pay attention to the lyrics, freedom is a really important theme across the whole record. In a sense, each song explores the concept of freedom from a different angle.

The title track is about being fearless in pursuing your purpose in life, regardless of what others might say about it. As Wide As Zen reflects on the importance of humility and open-mindedness in the face of life's biggest mysteries and philosophical questions, and highlights this by incorporating multiple languages from different cultures throughout the song. Terminal 3 (Let Go) is an "emotionally mature breakup song" that chooses to focus on the value of lessons learned from heartbreak and the importance of exes setting each other free to learn and grow. BKBPT2 is a genre-bonkers anthem for truly unbridled creativity, and Gazelles tells the story of a woman reclaiming her spiritual autonomy from repressive religious institutions. 

Most of the songs are topically pretty serious, but we approached the composition in a way that, I think, most people will recognize as "fun." The concepts are in depth, but I think we succeeded in counterbalancing that with music that feels playful and light—even in the "heavy" parts. You could just as easily dance or journal to these songs. The point of it is to pull together the supposedly disparate parts of the human experience and to feel them all simultaneously—to show how all of life is connected, and how good can be found in even the most negative experiences. 

We hope, above all else, that this music makes you feel free, integrated, and fulfilled.

Buzz Slayers: Before we go, what would you like to express to fans of the music? 

There's a quote from the late German theologian Jürgen Moltmann that has always inspired how I envision this band: "The truth of human freedom lies in the love that breaks down barriers." 

Our audience has always consisted of people with a tendency to think outside the box and an openness to others. Right now, the world we live in is increasingly characterized by hostility and distrust, and it's a real tragedy because there is so much that each of us can learn from each other and our shared humanity. Real bridge-building and connection to each other is the first step toward making a better world for everyone, and that fact is what our genre-blending approach is meant to illustrate. There are, in principle, no sounds that are absolutely incompatible, and I think that our listeners are the kind of people who recognize that this is true about people too. That's the point of music—not just listening to sounds but listening to people as they share from their hearts. It's what we've encountered and loved so many times among other artists in our scene in Toronto, and it's what we hope to share with anyone willing to spend their time with our music.

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