Sundara Karma never wanted to move in a straight line.
Emerging from a clutch of indie bands adding flavour to the scene, Sundara Karma's colourful rebellion stood out from the crowd.
Each project sounds different from the last, with Sundara Karma allowing themselves space to evolve.
New EP 'Oblivion!' lands on Friday – April 1st – and it pivots in a future-pop direction, linking the band to some talented auteurs.
Creative direction comes from the one and only Hannah Diamond, while studio sessions were overseen by Charli XCX collaborator Clarence Clarity.
As frontman Oscar Pollock puts it…
"It’s fun to amalgamate different genres, often I love re-contextualising things like vocal styles etc. I think I also enjoy confusing people. For this EP I wanted to take pop rock to a maximalist and super saccharine place. Like with a lot of our previous music there’s a fair amount of pop hooks for people to hold onto and there are also moments for glam guitar stuff to poke through but I suppose my emo past has also made a resurgence and I haven’t felt like suppressing those urges."
Clash caught up with the singer to discuss cultural passions ahead of the EP's release.
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TV…
Just started watching Gossip Girl and I’m hooked. First time I’ve ever watched it. Also recently finished watching the 1997 anime series for Berserk which was actually life changing. So insane. My friends tell me I gotta read the manga now so I’m gunna do that for sure. To be honest I don’t really watch too much TV I’d rather play computer games or watch a movie but if I want something really easy and fun then I’ll stick on Bob’s Burgers. I’m also a proud Disney+ subscriber so anything Disney related is a good fit for my soul.
Books…
Just finished reading The Vegetarian by Han Kang – very dark, very moving, very poetic. Before that I was reading Neuromancer by William Gibson, a mesmerising book. It’s well known that Gibson coined the term 'cyberspace' but interestingly there’s a character called 3Jane in the book and I think Gibson was maybe one of the first authors to merge letters and numbers for a character's name, just wonderful.
I’m currently reading a book called Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truth by A. O. Scott. It’s so good! Would highly recommend this book to any artists out there (and certainly would recommend this book to any critics out there).
I also love Hermann Hesse, I think the world would benefit from more sensitive male writers (or just sensitive men in general) like himself.
Music…
Life would be bleak without music. I would opt-out to be quite frank. I struggle to get my head around how wave forms and vibrations can become emotionally charged when put into the right combination or context. For some reason we are a species that loves song! It’s too beautiful!
My favourite artists and songs come and go but the part worth talking about is that throughout the ages the utility of music has never waned. For something so ephemeral. I think it’s probably in our DNA isn’t it, at some quantum level, extending further than just the rhythm of our heartbeats.
Film…
One of my favourite movies is a film called Silent Light by Carlos Reygadas. I’m a huge fan of his movies and transcendental cinema in general. The opening shot is enough to leave you questioning the nature of your own existence. A beautiful take on love, relationship, suffering, and compromise. I also love Wong Kar-wai. Fallen Angels and Chungking Express portray the haziest worlds I’ve ever come across and I would love to live forever inside those movies.
Gadget…
In the middle of lockdown I built a PC and it’s since become my most prized possession. I was using it to stream on Twitch for a bit and was also using it for writing music and recording/ video stuff but I’ve decided that it’s sole purpose is for video games.
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Sundara Karma will release new 'Oblivion!' EP on April 1st.
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