Club Kuru will release new album ‘Before The World’ on June 21st.
The London-based psych project took a step back over the pandemic, with lead creative figure Laurie Erskine taking stock of his achievements, and his ambitions. Working from his home studio in South London, sessions began anew, with the songwriter probing recent developments in his life.
Songs of loss and enrichment, he aimed for catharsis during these sessions, augmented by a string of musicians borrowed from the jazz world. As a result, the project retained an organic hue, the feeling of performance coming to the fore on the recordings.
Recently ending a five-year hiatus with new single ‘Gone Like A Flower’, Club Kuru is ready to unveil plans for his next album.
Out on June 21st, ‘Before The World’ is a self-described “very introspective record”. He explains: “Much of it came out of me sitting alone in the studio and just feeling quite sad. I would ask myself difficult questions and worry that there weren’t any resolutions coming to me. Lyrically, I started to move towards themes of life and death after a terrible loss in my family…and then around the same time, the lovely arrival of new life.”
Laurie adds: “Amidst these sombre and worried reflections, there’s a vague yet prevailing sense of hope weaving its way through the record. I definitely felt the weight lift when I finally completed it. Hopefully this sense of renewal shines through to the listener.”
New single ‘Who Am I?’ is out now, a song that moves from darkness into light. “‘Who am I?’ Is a cathartic song for me that deals with existential terror,” Laurie says. “As I’ve got older, like many others, I have moments where I’m overcome with a sense of emptiness and no real purpose – constantly grappling with self-doubt and questioning past and present decisions…”
Tune in now.
