This week, Balkan Express does both Croatia and Slovenia. Primarily because they both gave us equal parts of Freekind, a jazz-hop duo that incorporates neo-soul and pop, as well as their musical education and love for exploring the intersection of different musical expressions.

Freekind are Croatian pianist and vocalist Sara Ester Gredelj and Slovenian drummer Nina Korošak Serčič. The two met in Austria (which, some Germans would argue, is a Balkan country, too), and kicked off a collaboration in 2019 which seems to be destined for greatness.

Freekind just got into the groove and were starting to get gigs when the pandemic hit and nearly upended it all. But the fact that the two were flatmates at the renowned musical academy in Graz in Austria helped because they were intimately in sync with one another. This in turn kept the creative process going and even produced a small-scale Covid-era hit

But it was in the summer of 2021 when freekind really got going again. They released their first EP and started appearing at festivals all over Central Europe, and even as far away as France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Freekind’s first EP was titled Not Good Enough and if critics and fans are to be believed, it was anything but not good enough. In fact, it was such a delicately balanced work of art that – were it not for single-digit number of tracks it could have well been declared a full-blooded album

EP Not good enough was Freekind’s signature blend of hip hop, indie pop and gentle piano riffs, which made them fan favourites from the very beginning. Equally important, however, was the meticulous production standard which, to be honest, is not always a foregone conclusion with new bands in this day and age. The success of Freekind was repeated on a larger scale last year, when they released their first full-length album titled Since Always and Forever.

Over the years, Freekind cemented their philosophy, hidden in a question/answer form: what kind of a person do you want to grow up to be? The free kind. But it also cemented their presence to the European musical stage. Not in the least because a month ago, Freekind were the recipients of the presitigious Music Moves Europe award.

And that’s all the time we have for today. Check out Freekind on YouTube, Spotify and wherever you get your music from and Balkan Express will be back next week.

—

Balkan Express brings you the latest and/or the greatest in music from the Balkans. On air every Tuesday at 11am on Ara City Radio, it is hosted by Aljaž aka @pengovsky who once did the world a solid and vowed never to sing again in public. Which is how he ended up doing radio.