SOYUZ

СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) is a creative collective originally from Minsk, Belarus, that was founded by multi-instrumentalists Alex Chumak, the band's composer and principal arranger, and Mikita Arlou. After moving to Warsaw, Poland in 2022, they were joined by drummer Albert Karch and guitarist Igor Wiśniewski. The name of the band is translated as “union”, which reflects the creative nature of the relationship between its members and their collaborators. While the recordings of SOYUZ feature a wider array of instruments, live performances are reimagined by the quartet. They include musical insights from all the performers and leave room for collective improvisation.

The new album called “KROK”, released on October 24th, 2025, was recorded in São Paulo, Stockholm and Warsaw. The first full-length record of the project made in Belarusian language with the additions in Portuguese and Japanese, it highlights the band’s ambition for further international collaboration, featuring songs with the acclaimed musicians Tim Bernardes (Brazil) and Manami Kakudo (Japan).

Following the success of “Force of the Wind”, “KROK” has further cemented SOYUZ’ international reputation as a constantly evolving and adventurous music collective, with positive reviews from KEXP and Allmusic, features in TURN, &Premium, Radio FIP (who also added the album to their “Sélection FIP”), Songlines Magazine, DW Brasil, Worldwide FM, and airplay on KEXP, KCRW, BBC Radio 6, SWR, Radio Canada, NTS Radio and more.