New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Today Alt-pop trailblazers Kero Kero Bonito -- a.k.a.
Sarah Midori Perry /
Sarah Bonito, Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled -- announce their new EP Civilisation II, the long-awaited follow-up to 2019's Civilisation I.
Out on April 21st via Polyvinyl, Civilisation II sees the band continue to explore instinctive human tendencies through other-worldly alternate-realities and dystopian concepts. The three tracks of the EP were completely devised using vintage hardware, written by
Sarah Bonito in both Japanese and English, and inspired by the likes of early ambassadors of art-pop such as Kate Bush,
David Byrne,
Bjork and Ryuichi Sakamoto, modern peers
Grimes and Caroline Polachek, and trumpeter Jon Hassell, who developed the concept of 'fourth world' music, which unified both primitive and modern sounds.
To celebrate the announcement of Civilisation II, KKB shares the first single off of the EP, entitled "The Princess and the Clock." The song is a lively experimental-pop anthem about old-time mythology, with the lyrics recounting a fictional tale of a princess who is kidnapped while sailing the world.
The band explain, "'The Princess and the Clock' is the tale of a young explorer who is kidnapped while sailing the world, imprisoned at the top of a tower and worshipped as royalty by an isolated society. Trapped in her chamber, she spends years dreaming of escaping, until one day she disappears. A legend of our own invention, 'The Princess and the Clock' was written before Covid emerged, though the long, lonely hours and escapist dreams its protagonist experiences will be relatable to many right now. It's a song for anyone who has ever felt trapped, lost and alone." The fable is masterfully illustrated through and animated by Dan W. Jacobs.
Kero Kero Bonito have broken new ground in the past 18 months since the release of Civilisation I. Driven by their understanding of the machinations of digital culture, they have encouraged the extrapolation of their music by their fans; in 2019, KKB's tracks 'Flamingo' and 'I'd Rather Sleep' went viral on Alt-TikTok, exposing their music to legions of new young fans, with both currently garnering over a million streams per month. They found themselves going viral again in 2020 after they composed 'It's Bugsnax!', the theme to the hit PS5 video game, which led to them being described as "the internet's new favourite meme ingredient" by GamesRadar.
The band also appeared on 100 gecs' 'ringtone' remix alongside
Charli XCX and Rico Nasty. The previous release, 2018's LP Time 'n' Place, topped the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the USA, which saw them embark on extensive global touring, including sold out shows in North
America and the UK, and festival appearances including Nile Rodgers' Meltdown, Porter Robinson's Second Sky and Coachella. The boundary-pushing, shape-shifting trio have amassed a supersized fanbase which spans generations, with a combined 175 million streams across platforms, while remaining entirely self-produced and in control of their output.
