Written by: Oliver Heffron
Ultraflex lightens the dancefloor to a dreamy cloud with their uniquely woven quilt of both recognizable and esoteric references. Producing and performing all their songs, the duo’s unique recording process creates tactile beats, enchanting vocal melodies, and a sound that feels nostalgic yet distinct. The duo, consisting of singer/producers Farao (aka Katrín Jahnsen) and Special-K (aka Katrín Helga Andrés), release their new album, Infinite Wellness, today via Street Pulse Records. The project distills many genres, eras, emotions, and instruments into its efficient 8-track runtime, balancing experimental flourishes with pop melodies and crisp percussion. The duo keeps the listener engaged as they levitate higher and higher into the lofty, lusty clouds of Ultraflex.
Special-K and Farao of Ultraflex hopped on a virtual interview with Nuance from over 5,000 miles away to discuss their new album, Infinite Wellness, their influences, production process, and more.
Photo Credit: Blair Alexander
Like their inventive layering of references on their songs, Ultraflex offers three versions of how Special-K and Farao in the form of two truths and a lie. ‘I can tell you like three verses, and you can decide which one you believe,” Special K says, “My dad and Karí’s mom were dating, and that’s how we started making music together. Or, we matched on Tinder. That’s the second one. Or, the third one, we met through common friends. Boring!”
However they met, the Kari and Katrín trace Ultraflex’s roots back to a spooky cabin in the Icelandic countryside. That’s where they produced their debut album, Visions of Ultraflex, as a commission piece for a festival in only a week. The two trace Ultraflex’s influences to pop albums from their childhood and “club-rapping” from their early adulthood in Berlin. Farao explains, “One big inspiration for Ultraflex that I listened to a lot when I was like 10 was Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope and, of course, Cher.” “We’re both big fans of Brittany,” Special-K added, “Also, in reference to this kind of style we call ‘club rapping,’ a good example is the Norwegian band Easter, or like Peaches. I think she’s also full of lust.”
On their sophomore album Infinite Wellness, the duo expanded their influences while also considering more aspects of popular music. As a result, the tracklist seamlessly blends disco, R&B, 80s synth pop, 70s Italian Film Music, jazz, Eurodance, and classical into unique patchwork guilt.
“On Infinite Wellness, our sources of inspiration grew a lot and we’ve taken more pop aspects into account,” Farao explains, “It was very centered around these Soviet-Arabic videos that we use as visuals and Soviet electronic music that I was very inspired by at the time.” “At the same time,” Special-K adds, “We also added chord progressions from classical music, Italian library music, as well as getting inspiration from all sorts of artists like Usher, Snoop Dogg, or the Spice Girls. All different corners, really.”
Photo Credit: Blair Alexander
“Relax” eases the listener into a world of Infinite Wellness with shimmering chimes and prancing plucks before laying down a club-ready groove featuring a New Order-esque synth melody. The infectious, self-loving vocals of “Baby” serve as the soundtrack for getting ready for a night out while you look in the mirror before the euphoric mid-2000s synth arpeggios and standout feature from Kuntessa on “Mi Vuoi” kicks the album into second gear. Their songwriting talent shines on moments like the second-person perspective of the scene in “Rhodos,” hilariously placing the listener in a drunken Ibiza oasis, while the echoed vocal melody on “Under the Spell” evinces their Brittany influence in the best way.
Special K | Photo Credit: Celine Paradis
“Melting Away” is Ultraflex’s magnum opus. Threading together their most audacious combination of references and mediums, Farao and Special K’s soft vocal melodies guide the listener on a restorative journey of lust, indulgence, and desire atop a wonderfully dense bed of keys, percussion, and Spanish guitars performed by Bjarni Daníel Dorvaldsson. The track’s intro features a passage from danish poet Tove Ditlevsen, and its lyrics are inspired by the Carmen Maria Machado short story “The Husband Stitch.”
“We always wanted this to be a power ballad. And the working title first was power ballad for a very long time,” Special K says, “So that’s why we wanted to bring in all the tricks you know, Spanish guitar energy.”
Special-K recounts how their inspiration for the sprawling power ballad was sparked from a cover of just one song:
Special K: “It started when we wanted to make a cover version of ‘Climax’ by Usher. So, we started making an arrangement as a backing track for that.We actually still have a vocal track of us singing ‘Climax.’ But then we realized we played the chords a little bit wrong. So, it was a little bit off, but then we decided we wanted to develop that further and moved away from the Usher song, and made this bridge, and expanded the musical arrangement from there.”
Farao | Photo Credit: Celine Paradis
From there, Farao found the perfect moment to incorporate aspects of some of her favorite songs:
Farao: “I always wanted to make a track in the style of Madonna’s ‘Live to Tell,’ I don’t know if you know the song. It’s not that well known. So I kind of modeled the beats around that track. But I also wanted to make it in the style of the Spice Girls “Two Becomes One,” so when I was making the beat, I had that in mind and the baseline. Then, we went to the Spanish guitar solo, it was kind of in the Enrique Iglesias’ style…We realized this song works well with the ‘more is more philosophy.”
Across Infinite Wellness, this inclusive musical philosophy shines, elevating satisfying dance tracks to deeper levels of emotion while keeping the listener on their toes with moments like the gorgeous saxophone solo on “Mi Vuoi.” The two went back and forth about whether or not to include the sax, working on the track tirelessly to make it work. “We often have ideas that are too much, and then we try to scale them back,” Special K says, “But we have kind of fallen in love with this ‘too much’ thing, and we have a hard time killing our darlings.”
Ultraflex expresses their boundary-pushing charisma in their flamboyant visual identities cultivated through DIY music videos with intimate productions like the recent “Melting Away.” The duo’s friendship and comedic chemistry are evident, as Special-K donned the same Farao-centric hoodie she wore in the “Under The Spell” Music Video during the zoom interview.
Farao couldn’t make the shoot because she’s still in Germany, while Special-K has relocated to Reykjavik since the pandemic. Despite the distance, the two musical chemistry grows stronger with each release. With a slew of tour dates stopping around the globe coming up, it’s only a matter of time before the world catches on to the dreamy, dancy, lustful, and unique world the Ultraflex girls have been weaving together thread by thread.