Ethiopian Beatmaker Mikael Seifu's 'Yarada Lij'

Electronic producer Mikael Seifu crashed onto our radar today with an early taste of his eclectic beatmaking. The Ethiopian newcomer, who cites his influences as "ER, Burial, traditional Ethiopian folk, Scott Storch," is still a bit of a mystery to us. What we do know is that he was born and raised in Addis Ababa before going on to study music production at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Seifu's debut release, which premiered today at The Fader, is a nostalgic-futuristic hybrid of Burial-like ethereal production and Ethiopian folk instrumentals. It also has one of the hardest hitting saxophone lines we've heard all year. "Yarada Lij" is an early drop off Seifu's forthcoming 4-track EP via Washington DC's 1432 R. Look out for the rest of the release July 1st. Until then, listen to the title track below.