Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter K, with two "new" bands. I say "new" because the first one isn't actually new, just me liking them is new. That band (or artist, actually) is Kindness.
Kindness has been around for a while. I think he (they? I read an article that referred to the artist as they, so not really sure. I think it's a gender thing, though, so I'm just gonna go with they.) has like 3 albums, and they were actually on my radar a few years ago with the song Gee Up. It was everywhere. And it's a great, little ditty, clocking in at about 2 minutes. The album it's off of (World, You Need A Change of Mind) is just ok, but this song is great. Especially when the beat picks up. I have no idea why they just cut the song off when it's just picking up. I could seriously listen to them jam on it for like 10 more minutes. Hopefully that's what they do live.
I should have put it on the blog 7 years ago when it came out. I apologize for not doing so until now. But anyway, Kindness has put out a new album, Something Like A War, and this one is fantastic. Still pretty upbeat and dancy and funky, but a lot more world music influence. And some great features. The opening song (after the intro, anyway), Raise Up, is maybe one of the best.
But the actual best is another little ditty that clocks in at under 2 minutes, and is nothing more than an interlude, titled Samthing's Interlude. Reminds me a bit of Nonku Phiri. And those horns are so delicious. And the vocals. Just everything about it, really.
The other K band is actually new, a Norweigian band called Konradsen. They (for sure because there are 2 of them in the band) have just put out their debut album, Saints and Sebastian Stories, came out last week, and I've listened to it like a dozen times since then. They've been putting out singles for about a year, it seems like, but somehow didn't end up on my radar until the album came out. One of the singles was Television Land, which is lovely, and I think pretty typical of what I love about their sound. Super chill, beautiful, somewhat minimal up-front, and then growing to a beautiful orchestral, crescendo later on. Plus what a voice.
I actually think the first song I heard by them was Red to Rhyme. Again, like Television Land, grows beautifully with the horns and everything coming in later in the song. But this time it's sax. And this time it also reminds me of Bon Iver. That was one of the things that caught me when I first heard it, actually.
I was only going to share 2 songs, which is pretty typical when I tell you about new bands (as opposed to songs I like), but since I put three songs by Kindness I'm going to do the same for Konradsen, because it was hard to pick which the second would be. It was between Red to Rhyme and Baby Hallelujah. Which also could have been the first song I heard. I'm not really sure. But these were definitely the first two. Baby Hallelujah doesn't really grow like the other two, just stays calm and beautiful all the way through. Totally enchanting.
Kindness has been around for a while. I think he (they? I read an article that referred to the artist as they, so not really sure. I think it's a gender thing, though, so I'm just gonna go with they.) has like 3 albums, and they were actually on my radar a few years ago with the song Gee Up. It was everywhere. And it's a great, little ditty, clocking in at about 2 minutes. The album it's off of (World, You Need A Change of Mind) is just ok, but this song is great. Especially when the beat picks up. I have no idea why they just cut the song off when it's just picking up. I could seriously listen to them jam on it for like 10 more minutes. Hopefully that's what they do live.
I should have put it on the blog 7 years ago when it came out. I apologize for not doing so until now. But anyway, Kindness has put out a new album, Something Like A War, and this one is fantastic. Still pretty upbeat and dancy and funky, but a lot more world music influence. And some great features. The opening song (after the intro, anyway), Raise Up, is maybe one of the best.
But the actual best is another little ditty that clocks in at under 2 minutes, and is nothing more than an interlude, titled Samthing's Interlude. Reminds me a bit of Nonku Phiri. And those horns are so delicious. And the vocals. Just everything about it, really.
The other K band is actually new, a Norweigian band called Konradsen. They (for sure because there are 2 of them in the band) have just put out their debut album, Saints and Sebastian Stories, came out last week, and I've listened to it like a dozen times since then. They've been putting out singles for about a year, it seems like, but somehow didn't end up on my radar until the album came out. One of the singles was Television Land, which is lovely, and I think pretty typical of what I love about their sound. Super chill, beautiful, somewhat minimal up-front, and then growing to a beautiful orchestral, crescendo later on. Plus what a voice.
I actually think the first song I heard by them was Red to Rhyme. Again, like Television Land, grows beautifully with the horns and everything coming in later in the song. But this time it's sax. And this time it also reminds me of Bon Iver. That was one of the things that caught me when I first heard it, actually.
I was only going to share 2 songs, which is pretty typical when I tell you about new bands (as opposed to songs I like), but since I put three songs by Kindness I'm going to do the same for Konradsen, because it was hard to pick which the second would be. It was between Red to Rhyme and Baby Hallelujah. Which also could have been the first song I heard. I'm not really sure. But these were definitely the first two. Baby Hallelujah doesn't really grow like the other two, just stays calm and beautiful all the way through. Totally enchanting.
