Following ‘Count Me Out’, Canadian outfit Chiiild fills in another gap of their forthcoming Synthetic Soul EP with off-kilter dreamer ‘Back To Life’. The song features Zimbabwean artist, songwriter, poet and activist Shungudzo who adds flourishes of starry-eyed mysticism with her lighter-than-air vocals. She’s the perfect choice for a song which “a metaphor, a fantasy that life is just practice and somehow in the future, we can get a second shot at this." In a way, the song was also inspired by Shungudzo, as Chiiild’s own vocalist and songwriter says “I wrote “Back To Life” on the day we met. We really bonded over being African artists who want to use music to tell stories about diversity, ask questions about humanity, and unify people over shared personal experiences.” The chilled-out vibe of the song’s production accentuates each punchy drum kick and scorching guitar strum, which almost wrestle against the somnambulist aura of the track of as a whole. This inner struggle is very subtle, but it’s there, amongst the retro psychedelica and futurist soul that make Chiiild’s music so very special. - Hannah Thacker