ZENA reveal details of debut EP, TEMESGEN

ZENA — the project of producer, keyboardist, and synth player Yohan Kebede, and bassist and producer Menelik — released their first standalone single, “Anchi Bale Gamé” back in November, a reimagining of Admas’ 1984 ethio-jazz classic. “MY LOVE YOUR LOVE” arrives as the first preview of the pair’s own work, TEMESGEN.

Speaking about the new single, ZENA explain: “It was one of the first songs we started working on. It’s become a favourite and we found it's always a bit of a mood lifter”.

TEMESGEN is set to arrive as a six-track collection exploring Ethiopian music. Speaking about the inspiration behind the work, Kebede explains:“‘TEMESGEN’ means “Thank God” in Amharic, and for me, I never heard my mother receive good news without saying it aloud. After the first couple gigs we did as ZENA, we saw how people reacted to our music and how it resonated with them. It spurred in us a feeling of overwhelming gratitude, after which the EP kind of named itself”.