Hiatus Kaiyote (/haɪˈeɪtəs keɪˈjoʊti/) is a future-soul quartet formed in Melbourne, Australia in 2011. The members are Naomi "Nai Palm" Saalfield (vocals, guitar), Paul Bender (bass), Simon Mavin (keyboards) and Perrin Moss (drums, percussion). In 2013, they were nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance for their song "Nakamarra", performed with Q-Tip. The song appears on their debut album, Tawk Tomahawk, released by Flying Buddha.
In 2014, the band joined forces with hip hop artist Remi, the multi-faceted Kirkis, producer Silent Jay and vocalist Jace XL to embark on an Australia-wide tour titled "The Sonic Architects National Conference". Three additional backing vocalists, Jace Excell, Loreli, and Alejandro Jay Abapo were added for this tour.
The band released their second album, Choose Your Weapon, on 1 May 2015. The review aggregator Metacritic has given the album a normalized rating of 88 out of 100, based on 6 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'. On 9 May 2015, Choose Your Weapon debuted at number 22 on the Australian albums chart.
The song "Breathing Underwater" from their second album Choose Your Weapon was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards, but lost out to The Weeknd's recording of "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Gray)".