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HALDI & ANS FLAMINGO – “Keegi” / “Flamingod” – 7” single – Soul Jones Records – 9th October 2026
“If we don’t do Estonian music, then who will?” asks Mattias Tirmaste, bassist and producer with Haldi & ans Flamingo. The Tallinn eight-piece make their UK debut on Soul Jones Records with “Keegi” / “Flamingod”, a 7” that brings estrada, the soul, funk and disco of Soviet-era Estonia, back to life, sung in their native tongue.
The band’s story began at a housewarming party, where singer, songwriter and producer Haldi Välimäe met Mattias and the two bonded over estrada. Haldi had been writing and performing solo, making bossa nova-tinged folk records and accompanying herself on guitar. Mattias was playing guitar and bass and had produced the local hit “Hülgehall” for Eik 2509. When Haldi was invited to play the Võnge festival, Mattias put a band together for a tribute to the female estrada singers of the era. It worked so well they started writing, and took the name Haldi & ans Flamingo – “ans” being short for ansambel, Estonian for ensemble, after the old Soviet-era convention. Signed at home to Funk Embassy, the Tallinn funk factory behind Rita Ray, Lexsoul Dance Machine and Reti, they are already headlining festivals in Estonia.
“Keegi” is a cover of the cover. Randy Crawford’s “You Might Need Somebody” was recorded by Tallinn girl group Elektra in the early hours of an October night in 1981, at the state-run Estonian Radio studio, when the building was free of prying eyes. Elektra had grown up on black American music, picked up from contraband records brought home in suitcases from state trips to the West and from the more relaxed Finnish broadcasts. They had been coached by Marju Kuut, one of Estonia’s best-loved singers, later blacklisted after defecting to Sweden. Live, Elektra could sing in English. On tape, the lyrics had to be Estonian, so conductor Märt Hunt, father of lead singer Kadri Hunt, wrote new words, and the song became “Keegi” – “someone”. “We were very enchanted by their rendition,” says Haldi, “and we made our version quite similar to theirs, while adding some soulful touches.”
That was how Western music survived under Soviet rule: rewritten, re-titled and archived as estrada, the officially approved pop of the USSR. Jazz was treated with suspicion. “There was this saying,” says Mattias. “‘Today plays the saxophone, tomorrow betrays homeland.’” So funk, soul and disco hid in plain sight. The records made in those conditions, often in a single take, are full of strange, brilliant choices and happy accidents, which Mattias calls “decisions of doubtful value”. “Of course they were professional musicians, and really good ones,” he says. “But everybody is human.” The analogue-style aeroplane whoosh in the intro of “Keegi” is a nod to that aesthetic.
For Haldi, a devoted student of estrada heroines such as Marju Kuut, Velly Joonas, Heidy Tamme and Els Himma, the music deserves a second chance in the free world, where a woman can sing about intimacy and love freely. “One of our missions is to bring great songs from the past into the present,” she says, “giving them a slightly more modern sound while remaining loyal to the sound of the ’60s to ’80s era. It’s important for me to highlight the work of female musicians from that time. There aren’t many artists currently producing soul music in the Estonian language.”
On the flip, “Flamingod” is a Välimäe/Tirmaste original from the band’s debut album, Õige aeg, and a tribute to the Marju Kuut track of the same name. Where “Keegi” is the love story, this is the groove: Siim Sõmer’s flute and Jaan Mesi’s trumpet riding Mattias’s bass and Henrik Leibur’s drums.
“Keegi” / “Flamingod” is released by Soul Jones Records on 9th October 2026, as a UK-exclusive 7” vinyl.
Estrada soul and the beautiful funk. Dig it.
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A-Side: “Keegi”
Written by: Tom Snow, Nan O’Byrne
Estonian lyrics: Märt Hunt
Produced by: Mattias Tirmaste, Haldi Välimäe
Vocals: Haldi Välimäe
Bass: Mattias Tirmaste
Drums: Henrik Leibur
Percussion: Kristjan Tenso
Guitar: Siim Siimer
Keys: Oliver Kaljula
Flute: Siim Sõmer
Trumpet: Jaan Mesi
Recorded at: EMTA (engineer Saamuel Pedosk), Rävala 8 (engineer Mattias Tirmaste)
Vocals recorded at: Sindi Seltsimaja
Mixed by: Mattias Tirmaste, Haldi Välimäe
Mastered by: Donald Cleveland for DCBAB-Side: “Flamingod”
Written by: Haldi Välimäe, Mattias Tirmaste
Produced by: Mattias Tirmaste, Haldi Välimäe
Musicians: as above, minus vocals
Recorded at: Susi Stuudio (engineer Sten-Olle Moldau)
Mixed by: Sten-Olle Moldau
Mastered by: José Diogo NevesOriginally released by Funk Embassy Records
Cat. No: SJR102
Label: Soul Jones Records© all rights reserved