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May 05, 2022 By Caleb Campbell

Vancouver-based songwriting and production outfit Sound of Kalima is the project of duo Peter Niewenburg and Sal Verma. The pair have been making music together for nearly a decade, and in recent years have been diving into their production work, jumping between the worlds of electronica, punk, hip hop, and pop. In addition to production, the pair have also been putting out their own music together, bridging the gaps between their genre influences while retaining an impressively catchy songwriting core.

Tomorrow the duo are set to release their first EP, Sick Puppy, and you can get an early listen to it below, premiering with Under the Radar.

Though the core of Sound of Kalima is their impressive genre-hopping ear for hooks, they also prove to have a very human and introspective side to their songwriting. Case in point, the EP begins with “6789ten,” a nervy and aggressive alt rock track inspired by the 2020 George Floyd protests. Meanwhile, beneath the heavy drumming and infectious hook of “WDUK,” the track reflects on feeling like the odd one out in a world of successful achievers.

Still, the band’s talent for immaculate mood-building and playful songwriting keeps the EP feeling light. “Ciggie Rainy” marries blissed-out and beach-ready pop with a guitar-laden climax, while “SOTL” provides a steamy and playful alt pop standout along with a feature from River Hooks. Finally, the record closes with “Noose Mansion,” a propulsive return to the duo’s roots in punk.

As the band explains, those same roots run through the rest of the EP: “’Sick Puppy’ is a collection of songs we worked on over the course of the pandemic, covering feelings of loneliness, addiction, injustice and love. It spans an eclectic range of genres but all imbued with a punk ethos.”

Check out the EP below, out everywhere on May 6th.