Kula Shaker return on Friday, the 2nd of February, with their seventh studio album, ‘Natural Magick’, via Strange Folk Records and Absolute. For the first time since 1998, keyboardist Jay Darlington returns to reunite the original line-up.
*images and artwork courtesy of Hermana PR.
Click the image to buy the album.
The band returned in 2022 after a six-year break with the album ‘1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love’, which marked a new era of great 60s-inspired psychedelic rock for the band. Can the old line-up continue this new run of form?
Based on recent singles ‘Waves’ and ‘Natural Magick’, their fire is burning bright. The former blossoms with melodic sitars and bugged-out riffs, which frontman Crispin Mills wraps his Donovan via Syd Barret vocal around. Its melody is instantaneous, and Mills’ vocal is so buoyant it’s impossible not to be encapsulated by the joy of it all. However, this year's ‘Natural Magick’ thrusts into action with its best hook since ‘Hey Dude’ exploded onto the airwaves in 1996. Its psychedelic-funk licks stomp the way to the almost The Go! Team-esque DIY vocal breakdown. Ask any band that broke through in the mid-90s; breaking away from that era has been challenging for them. On these two singles, Kula Shaker appears to have embraced that time and put out singles worthy of their chart peak.
The band has always been known for their spaced-out psyche and Middle Eastern influences. They’ve been the bedrock for the band to manoeuvre away from the poppier moments with an ease that many bands struggle with. Bridging the gap is ‘Indian Record Player’. Opening with Ezra Furman-esque guitars and Cornershop‘s pop sensibilities, Mills returns to his Southall upbringing, discovering the soundtrack to Mughal-E-Azam and yearning for the ideal of 60s love and peace. The culmination is a groove which commands dancefloor and muso attention.
The band steps into full kaleidoscopic mode on ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Chura Liya (You Stole My Heart)’, both assisted by Laboni Barua’s spellbinding vocals, both come armed with mass cinematic appeal via Mills’ love of Bollywood. The former dips, peaks, and effortlessly grooves like classic Tarantino. Darlington’s hazy keys trip with a blissed-out freeness, allowing Barua to glide in with her divine, ethereal vocal. Then, the album spills over to bona fide classic territory on' Chura Liya'. They fuse the vastness of a Morricone epic, Bollywood, Lee Hazlewood vocals, and majestic widescreen brass and guitar licks of Arthur Lee’s Love.
The album's back end (‘Whistle And I Will Come’ / ‘Kalifornia Blues’ / ‘Give Me Tomorrow’) moves out from their mystical stance into a more timeless sense of writing. They don’t hit the heights of the, but they add an enjoyable ballast for the poppier moments and the more thought-provoking tracks to grab your mind. Either way, they’ve tapped into the debut album energy of any great band desperate for your attention.
We suggest you give it to them.
Click the image below for tickets to their upcoming tour:
