15 15 map a mythical island on Mārara. Where flying fish, future r&b and ritual rhythms meet
Some albums try to take you somewhere. 15 15’s new record MĀRARA doesn’t just suggest a destination — it hands you a boarding pass, a coconut drink and politely points you toward an island that may or may not exist on any official map.
Released today via S76 Records, MĀRARA — meaning “flying fish” — unfolds like a musical travelogue to a little-known Polynesian island imagined by the Paris-based collective. While Tahiti tends to hog the postcard spotlight, this project shines its lantern somewhere else entirely: a place shaped by geography, climate, traditions and the quietly humming mythology of the island itself.
The result is less a traditional album and more of a cultural immersion. One where songs drift in like warm evening tides, carrying fragments of folklore, rituals and half-whispered legends.
Musically, 15 15 weave together a curious and compelling blend: smooth R&B textures, futuristic electronic explorations and flashes of dancehall-leaning rhythm. It’s a mix that shouldn’t necessarily work on paper, yet here it flows naturally.
And much like the flying fish the album is named after, these tracks seem to glide just above the surface. Synths shimmer. Percussion pulses like distant ceremonial drums. Vocals drift between intimacy and incantation, as if each song is both story and spell.
But MĀRARA isn’t just about sound — it’s about world-building. The band construct a sonic language that feels entirely their own, tied to invented rituals and imagined traditions. The island becomes both symbol and stage, a place where memory, myth and future-facing production all coexist.
At times the record feels like it’s been holding its breath, quietly searching through the dark ocean for land. When it finally surfaces, what emerges is this island. Vibrant, mysterious and strangely welcoming.
A flying fish.
A symbol.
An island.
An album.
And now that it’s here, 15 15 invite listeners to step ashore.
Ia ora na.
Welcome to Mārara.
“Mārara” out now on S76 Records.
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