Stream: Kan Wakan, ‘No Sweat Off My Back’ (feat. SAÍGO)

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Kan Wakan (Mihail Novakov)

Finding its heartbeat in glowing synths and the equally warm, wispy vocals of guest SAÍGO, “No Sweat Off My Back” is the third single from Kan Wakan’s “Phantasmagoria Vol. 2.”

The album is the work of Bulgarian-born composer-producer-multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui Linev, who now splits his time between L.A. and the U.K. Originally planned to be part of a triple-LP, “Phantasmagoria Vol. 2” is Kan Wakan’s third album and, now, second of a trilogy.

The music, as we have written before, is a a surrealist blend of orchestral pop, trip-hop, classical minimalism and celestial R&B. After the initial incarnation of Kan Wakan (known as Oren Lyons at the start before changing their name), Linev has carried on his vision as a solo project, inviting in a host of guest vocalists. Jessica Childress (who has her own new EP on the way) sang on “Vol. 2’s” first single “Oh Mother,” and Rachel Fannan (whose new album is coming next week) appeared on the second, “Shining Bright Truth.”

SAÍGO (Tien Nguyen), who has sung as many as five songs with Kan Wakan live and appears on six on the new album, anchors the latest single, described as “a meditation, an acceptance, a lament of weary anxiety. Who decides where this school of fish is swimming, and aren’t we exhausted from trying to swim there?”

“Phantasmagoria Vol. 2” is out Nov. 10.

||| Stream: “No Sweat Off My Back”

||| Previously: “Shining Bright Truth,” “Oh Mother,” Kan Wakan: An interview, “Phantasmagoria Pt. 1,” “I Would,” “Molasses,” live at the Troubadour, “Are We Saying Goodbye,” “Like I Need You” video, “Like I Need You”