Malika Tirolien // Caulder Nash GEMINICRAB

Malika Tirolien is a remarkable vocalist, musician, songwriter and producer from Guadeloupe, now living in Montreal. She is garnering international attention with her creative collaborations. Highlights include the release of the album HIGHER in April 2022, a 2019 Grammy nomination with Bokanté “What Heat”, 2,3 million YouTube views for the video “I’m Not The One (with Snarky Puppy)”, a 20-country tour with Bokanté, #5 on R&B iTunes Canada with the album “Sur La Voie Ensoleillée” and collaborations with Bokanté, Snarky Puppy, Lara Fabian, Coral Egan, Groundfood, Kalmunity Vibe, Vox Sambou. Her newest venture is the brand new album “Gen Y Lens” released in November 2024 with her high-soul duo project GeminiCrab.

About the album ‘Gen Y Lens’:

‘Malika Tirolien does not disappoint this time either (…) is not only fun, but also offers a lot of musical novelties.’ HR 2 Kultur Jazz and More

‘[…] thick beats and rich sounds, bass-heavy and keyboard-laden, melodies and language interplay, English and French, sometimes leaning more towards the song, sometimes more towards the dancefloor. Tirolien’s warm, soulful, powerful voice stands out from the definitely danceable music with remarkable expressiveness […]’ Jazzpodium

‘There are a lot of exciting sound effects hidden in the noble production – you can look for them or just dance to this groove monster’ Westzeit

“Malika Tirolien does not disappoint this time again (…) it’s not only fun, but also offers a lot of musical novelties.” Jazz-Fun

About the album ‘Higher’:

“Malika Tirolien dares to do something […]. The choruses may often sound catchy and pretend to have a pop character, but it is not quite that simple. In the detail view as well as in the overall view, “Higher” does not deliver clap-along music for primary school lessons, it is not for beginners and especially not by beginners.” SWR2, Album of the Week

“A strongly afrofuturistic, spiritually charged work of art she creates (…) with her first-class band” Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Inspired, versatile and modern melange of soul, funk and jazz, of world, hip hop and folk. (…) versatile and sophisticated: rapt ballads alternate with soulful uptempo grooves and heavy hip hop beats. Refined at all times by her wonderful voice.” Westzeit

“R&B, soul and hip hop elements crash unfiltered on top of each other in a futuristic sound garment and above it all this voice that seems to effortlessly succeed in everything” Jazzthing

“The eleven songs present themselves as a fusion of Afrofuturistic soul-jazz, driven by powerful rhythms and Tirolien’s emotional honeyed voice. Here we discover a performer with soul, a sense of impulse, who wants to convey a message and appeal to a clientele attentive to the changes in our world.” Jazzthing

“Not only linguistically does the singer bring her roots to her new album, but musically there is pretty much everything that has influenced her in music: soul, jazz, R’n’B, hip hop, combined with French rap interludes.” JAZZTHETIK

“Powerhouse vocals Alluring compositions…” JAZZ TIMES

“Whether it’s on this big stage or an intimate club, Tirolien’s powerful commanding voice has incredible range, a warm tone, and remarkable control…” NOISEY VICE

“’High soul’, soul-jazz with robust rhythms in line with the works of famed Meshell Ndegeocello, neo-soul (on the superb tracks Better and Dreamin’) and rap (Sisters) add depth and dynamism to this audacious album.” LE DEVOIR

Grammy-nominated vocalist and songwriter Malika Tirolien (Bokanté, Jacob Collier) and award-winning keyboardist/producer Caulder Nash (Jonathan Roy, Fredy V & the Foundation) present their new duo project, GeminiCrab.

Their début album, Gen Y Lens, falls into Tirolien’s self-described genre of “HighSoul,” embracing the varied sonic influences and social realities of Millennials. The captivating record showcases Tirolien’s impeccable vocal prowess with Nash’s brilliant production. “Some songs are purposely made to be fun and light to reflect the Gemini vibe,” Tirolien says, “and some topics we choose to write about are more emotional to try to represent the depth of the Cancer (or crab).” This balance has resonated with listeners, racking up more than two million views on YouTube.

This project marks a new chapter in the collaboration between Tirolien and Nash that dates back to the mid-2000s. Originally from Guadeloupe, Tirolien moved to Montreal to pursue her studies at Université de Montréal. She quickly became one of the leading voices in the city’s R&B and soul scene, performing in Cirque de Soleil’s La Nouba, and joining the Kalmunity Vibe Collective, where she connected with Nash. Tirolien was a featured guest on Snarky Puppy’s acclaimed Family Dinner Vol 1, which laid the groundwork for Bokanté, her current collaborative band with Snarky Puppy founder and bassist Michael League. She is also a featured performer with renowned saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart (Roy Hargrove, D’Angelo), as well as the author of the children’s book, Ntangu.

An in-demand keyboardist, producer and musical director, Caulder Nash has made an indelible mark on Quebec’s cultural scene. In addition to touring in Malika Tirolien’s solo band, he has worked with some of the leading pop singers of the province including Jonathan Roy, Claudia Bouvette, and KalliTechnis. A jazz-trained pianist who remains at the forefront of synthesizers and music technology, he was a part of the house band in seasons 1-6 of Les Poilus on Radio-Canada.

During their creative residency at Montreal’s PHI Centre, Tirolien and Nash were able to expand their compositional and production vocabulary through experimentations with binaural recording technology. The results, as heard on Gen Y Lens, combine elements of soul, R&B, jazz and hip-hop. The duo – rounded out in their live incarnation with bassist Rémi-Jean Leblanc and drummer Ronny Desinor – performed eleven concerts throughout Europe and the UK in November 2024, in addition to release events in Montreal.