SUJOKALO | INTERVIEW + TRACK REVIEW

There’s something unmistakably transportive about Sujokalo’s music—like stumbling into a dream you don’t remember falling asleep for. Known for their ability to blend shimmering electronic textures with heartfelt, genre-fluid songwriting, the duo has built a sonic world that feels both intimate and expansive. With the success of their debut album Bothwell and the SBS Chillest 100 standout Annapurna, Sujokalo now returns with Forever—a glowing collaboration with Tom Peppitt (Planet) that captures the feeling of a memory you haven’t lived yet.

We caught up with the band to chat about the magic behind Forever, working with Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Carra, what’s next in their sonic evolution, and how they’re continuing to push the boundaries of what Sujokalo can be.

TRACK REVIEW

There’s something unmistakably transportive about Sujokalo’s music—like stumbling into a dream you don’t remember falling asleep for. Known for their ability to blend shimmering electronic textures with heartfelt, genre-fluid songwriting, the duo has built a sonic world that feels both intimate and expansive. With the success of their debut album Bothwell and the SBS Chillest 100 standout Annapurna, Sujokalo now returns with Forever—a glowing collaboration with Tom Peppitt (Planet) that captures the feeling of a memory you haven’t lived yet.

We caught up with the band to chat about the magic behind Forever, working with Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Carra, what’s next in their sonic evolution, and how they’re continuing to push the boundaries of what Sujokalo can be.

LISTEN HERE

MUSIC VIDEO HERE

Your music has been described as nostalgic for memories that haven’t even happened yet, where did that idea come from, and how does that shape your songwriting?

First and foremost, we make music for ourselves. But there is an underlying sense that we want the listener to wrap their feelings around the sound we make and make it their own.

Forever feels like a perfect evolution of your sound, how did the track come together, and what was it like collaborating with Tom Peppitt from Planet?

Tom is a good friend of ours and we had been talking about working on a track together for ages. When it came to writing Forever, the session came together really quickly in one night, and is one of those tracks that just fell out of the sky. It was a really collaborative process with each of us getting stuck in and making it happen. Tom is such a great musician and brought so may interesting ideas to the writing process that we were able to bounce off.

Working with Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Carra is huge, what did he bring to the final mix of Forever that took it to another level?

We have worked with Joe before as he was the mastering engineer on our debut album, Bothwell. So when it came to Forever, he was the only person we had in mind. He has actually already mastered our next single, Biscuits, which we are really excited about.

Your debut album Bothwell received such a strong response, how do you look back on that chapter now that you’re moving into new music?

The response to Bothwell was really encouraging in the sense that it pushed us on to not pigeon hole ourselves to one particular sound. For instance, much of our new album is an exploration of other sounds that we’ve been looking to express for a long time. However, we do feel that whatever we do always sounds like it comes from the same place. Wherever that is.

Sujokalo has a really distinct way of blending electronic sounds with raw emotion, is that something you aim for intentionally or does it happen naturally?

We are big fans of expressing our love for all styles of music, and also very aware that we love a genre jump. We are both pretty happy to just try new ideas with a smattering of whatever floats our boat at the time of writing.

What’s a lyric or moment in Forever that still hits you personally every time you hear it?

It’s gotta be the earworm of a chorus as it’s just so catchy. Can’t really say more than that.

The SBS Chillest 100 success with Annapurna was massive, how does it feel knowing your music has connected with so many people across such a wide space?

We are avid listeners of SBS Chilled, and they have been really supportive of us over the last few years. But when we heard Annapurna came in at number 6 as the highest new entry in this year’s countdown, it was quite the humbling surprise . To be amongst such great artists both established, and emerging, was such an honour.

If Sujokalo could design the dream setting for someone to listen to Forever for the first time, where would it be?

We’d never want to put that kind of intention on anyone, music shouldn’t be consumed with that much thought. Rather just enjoyed in the moment. But nature and a doobie doesn’t hurt.

Looking ahead, with Forever about to drop, what’s next for Sujokalo? More singles, shows, or maybe another big project on the horizon?

The next single, Biscuits, released on Friday 6th June, is a return to our more shoegaze roots but with a bit of a difference. We are currently working on the accompanying video too which will be released in tandem with the track. Further than that, our second album should be ready some time later this year.

LISTEN HERE