KU - GANJA

Since KU’s 2013 debut “Feathers”, many things have changed. Inside a turmoil of global and personal changes with an aftermath taking the lead and while his other projects (Jay Glass Dubs and The Hydra) started taking off, he decided it was time for all the material laying dormant in his demos to take shape into a second album. Spiraling from the throbbing force of “A Happening” to the shuttered melancholy of “Cypriol”, “Ganja” is an album of departures and arrivals, a faint signature of a life past and the decision for a new one. The album's lyrics are the main objective. Holding strong position on matters such as power, love, ambition and depression, it underlines the addiction that may come to all of the above separately and simultaneously. Like the plant that gave the album its name, the music in “Ganja” is a beneficial parasite, a strong symbiotic and a deja-vu of emotions, smells, melodies and orchestrations, indefinable yet so specific. The instrumentation is deliberately as elemental as possible, emphasizing on the essence of sound. Space guitars, Battiato-ian moogs, persuasive percussion and hummed protoelectronics juxtaposed with acoustic fragility, choral grandiose and white reggae moods reveal a process that is never militant towards one direction. Recorded live in its larger amount, with the talent, musicianship and knowledge of his long time collaborators Baby Guru in their Marginalia Studio and produced by the band's Prins Obi and King Elephant as well as KU himself, in Mondays between May and June 2015, “Ganja” is a personal story sung and played between friends who fight, love, decide and forget each other but never unknow what brings them together. That sacramental moment when everything is in sync and the words and sounds float freely and fill up the room like smoke from a dried out herb. “Ganja” is out on LP and digital album via Inner Ear. credits released March 13, 2017 ______________________________________________ Music and lyrics by KU Additional music by Baby Guru Produced by King Elephant, Prins Obi and KU Recorded at Marginalia Studio on Mondays between May and June 2015 Engineered and mixed by King Elephant Mastered by Yiannis Christodoulatos at Sweetspot Art direction by KU Layout by d/B Musicians: A Happening King Elephant: drums, noise, saxophone // KU: vocals, noise // Prins Obi: keyboards, Moog synthesizer Hyacinth King Elephant: percussion, keyboards // KU: vocals // Prins Obi: keyboards Turque King Elephant: drums, Moog synthesizer, percussion // Kon Kon: electric guitar // KU: vocals // Prins Obi: organ, percussion // Sir Kosmiche: bass Dry Dates King Elephant: percussion // Kon Kon: acoustic guitar // KU: vocals // Prins Obi: organ Spring Elevator King Elephant: drums, percussion // Kon Kon: electric guitar // KU: vocals // Prins Obi: keyboards, Moog synthesiser, percussion // Sir Kosmiche: bass Olympic Complex KU: vocals // Prins Obi: piano Oolong King Elephant: percussion, drums // KU: vocals, synthesizer // Prins Obi: Moog synthesizer, keyboards, organ Cypriol Kon Kon: acoustic guitar // KU: vocals // Sir Kosmiche: ring modulator