СОЮЗ (SOYUZ) is a creative collective founded by Belarusian multi-instrumentalists Alex Chumak and Mikita Arlou, originally from Minsk and based in Warsaw since 2022, where they were joined by Polish drummer Albert Karch and guitarist Igor Wiśniewski. In the studio, Chumak shapes the band's jazz-, folk- and world-music-inflected sound as composer and arranger; live, the quartet opens the songs up to collective improvisation. Their breakthrough album Force of the Wind (2022, Mr Bongo) was named one of Bandcamp's Best Albums of 2022 and earned airplay on BBC Radio 6, KEXP and Worldwide FM. Fourth album KROK (2025) marks Chumak's first record written entirely in Belarusian, recorded across São Paulo, Stockholm and Warsaw with guests including Tim Bernardes and Manami Kakudo.
The EU+UK tour to promote KROK started in February 2026 with sold-out shows in venues such as Jazz Cafe (London), Fasching (Stockholm), Botanique (Brussels) and Paradiso (Amsterdam).
SOYUZ recorded a live session for Gilles Peterson in the legendary BBC Maida Vale studios in London.
The fourth studio album KROK was released on 24 October 2025 via Mr Bongo - the first SOYUZ album entirely in Belarusian, recorded in São Paulo, Stockholm and Warsaw.
In 2024, SOYUZ released two international collaborations: 'Spring has sprung' with Asha Puthli and Sven Wunder, and the single 'Калі ты запытаеш (If You Ask)'.
The album II from 2019 was re-released as a remastered version via Mr Bongo on 22 March 2024, for the first time also on vinyl.
