Kulikovsky – ‘Burning Up’

Starting as an underground DJ superstar, Kulikovsky, from Minsk, in Belarus, has gone on to tour all over Europe and the former USSR. His music has also been played on underground and major UK stations alike, including BBC Radio 1. Kulikovsky’s songs are unique with a signature sound and videos that are out-of-the-box. He’s becoming one of the leading lights of electronic music in his country — and with tracks like his latest, ‘Burning Up’, we definitely understand why.

With snaky synths, propulsive beats, and smooth, radiant vocals, Kulikovsky’s sound is nothing if not on the very edge of cutting-edge, and effectively carrying on local tradition. Minsk has always been a cultural crossroads, supping on the influences of Western Europe, the Nordic countries, and the very heart of Russia. Likewise, Minsk’s sound has a long history of challenging classical music and distinctive folk, and you can hear these styles echo in Kulikovsky’s mixes. His songs boast the structure and melodic development of classical pieces, the immediacy of folk, and the relentlessness characteristic of the small but growing Minsk rave scene.

‘Burning Up’ builds from its intoxicating verse to a dazzling chorus and drops into a truly mesmerizing, atmospheric ambient section before the beat comes charging back.

The music video for ‘Burning Up’ is as sexy as Kulikovsky’s previous releases, but it is also murky, dreamlike, immersive, and shrouded in mystery. All the women in the clip look like they’re keeping – possibly explosive – secrets. One girl dances in slow motion in a room full of streamers, while another, back to the camera, holds a up pair of torches. Still another poses in front of the coloured lights of an arcade game. What strikes us most of all however, is a woman in glitter, who presses her face against a transparent surface, under a black light. We are unable to fathom her expression, she is inscrutable. All that is left when the light fades are the barest traces of her lipstick.

Find out more about Kulikovsky and his music online on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.