The Ascension – AKA DJ and producer Charisse C and interdisciplinary artist and vocalist Koek Sista – announce their debut EP ‘The Ascension’ set for release 20 Oct. The news is paired with brand new single ‘I Said What I Said’, out today on the London-based independent imprint Don’t Sleep. The EP promises to be a notable addition to the creative Brixton-based record label, Don’t Sleep.

Founded by the A&R visionary who first spotted the talents of Peggy Gou, this label is known for championing innovative artists, and The Ascension are the latest promising talent to join their ranks.

The follow-up track to the heavyweight ‘Khulula’, a track that set the dancefloors and airwaves alight with its club-ready sound, ‘I Said What I Said’ is another euphoric earworm from outer space produced by ZVRI. With trance chords merging with gqom and moments of pulsating bassline oscillating between Koek Sista’s opera-like apologies, the single pushes the duo to the frontline once again. On the track, they state: “It’s a story of post-conflict regret. When you spill truths that you would usually hold back from a lover in order to protect their feelings; the tension brews until an eventual breaking point. If you’re anything like us, the dance floor is one of the places we go to sublimate such feelings.” The song is equal parts pain and freedom. 

With the new single, the duo also announce their debut EP ‘The Ascension’ a 5-track sonic deepdive into their own blend of South African electronic music. Executive-produced by Charisse C, recorded mostly in South Africa, the project is rooted in its origins, but expansive and experimental in its imagination. “If we really want this to grow beyond this moment, we want to come in and introduce something that hasn’t been heard before,” Charisse says, “because those are the things that you remember.” With both halves of the innovative duo containing globe-spanning touchpoints, it’s no surprise that their pairing of elemental electronic production with cathartic vocal layerings is as radical as it is club-ready. 

Bonding over a shared passion for Southern African electronic music and the desire to push it beyond its current boundaries, DJ Charisse C connected with the performer Koek Sista during the pandemic. “Meeting Charisse was an anchor for me,” says Ulungile. “We have a lot of similarities in how we think about life and sisterhood and art and the place of Black women in creative industries, so that foundation was always there.” They began the journey of translating those values in a creative coalition with their explosive viral Boiler Room debut leading to a string of performances from the V&A to Fabric, Tate Modern to KOKO, Somerset House to the Southbank Centre. 

Born out of a desire to reimagine how the music of her sets could evolve and breathe new life into the live space, collaborating with performer Koek Sista to bring something more organic and fluid to a club setting felt like a natural yet exhilarating fit with DJ Charisse C who was burgeoning alongside the popularity of Amapiano within the London community. “I’d been thinking about having a live vocalist perform with me in a way that would be very much a part of the set and that was also artistic,” says Charisse. “And it just kind of clicked.” Clips of that set and the entranced crowds surrounding them have gained thousands of views across all platforms and launched the pair into a string of live appearances, before they’d even found a way to label what they do. 2 years on, just like the name they picked suggests, The Ascension have their sights set on the highest peaks of the electronic scene.