KIMIA presents “SOTULA”, shaped around her Franco Congolese background and recorded with Paris producer Julien ‘Noko’ Decoret, whose acid-afro electronic work gives the song its frame. The title uses her mother’s surname, Sotula, which is also a word found in Kikongo with a meaning linked to letting go. The lyrics are carried mainly in Lingala, a major language used across Kinshasa, Brazzaville and their surrounding regions, including within her own family.

The song is dedicated to her late mother, Esther Rose Sotula. KIMIA names herself as the “child of love” and the “child of Sotula”, placing her family at the centre of the text. From there the lyrics move toward loss, linking her identity to experiences of affection and hardship before turning directly to her mother. The lines about becoming a rainbow and burning her veins form the song’s most explicit and emotionally charged moment.

Noko keeps the track focused on her voice, with a narrow electronic frame that supports the bilingual movement without drawing attention away from it. 

KIMIA is scheduled to appear at the Trans Musicales in Rennes in early December.

Stream and listen to the single HERE