Pierre Kwenders puts on for his Moonshine Collective with new single “Douk Saga”

Pierre Kwenders is the Congolese-Canadian musician behind last year's excellent, Polaris Prize-nominated album MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time. He's also one of the co-founders of the Moonshine Collective, a Montreal-based group throwing vibrant underground parties capable of converting wallflowers everywhere. “Douk Saga,” Kwenders's new single, appears on the upcoming Moonshine mixtape SMS FOR LOCATION, VOL. 2 (The FADER premiered the first instalment). Happily, we've got the song's exclusive premiere.

“I wanted to pay tribute to the late Douk Saga, the founder of coupé-décalé [a very percussive style of African pop with roots in the Ivory Coast],” Kwenders told us in an email. "Enjaillement – a French term for ‘enjoyment’, especially in the context of parties, commonly used in West Africa – draws the mix closer to a close with its Afro-tribal, percussive magic and all-around jubilant mood. If we’re being honest, [the real Douk Saga] is kind of the master of enjaillement."

SMS FOR LOCATION, Vol. 2 is out November 30. “With this second volume," Kwenders writes, "I wanted to showcase the many facets of Moonshine. Often, people have a very specific idea about us. They think we play nothing but Afro rhythms, or strictly techno tracks. So I wanted to take listeners on a boundary-busting voyage over the course of which they’d experience the full scope of Moonshine: moments of crazy percussive highs, remarkably soothing melodies and total rhythmic grace.” Listen to "Douk Saga" below.