Credit: Matilda Hill-Jenkins
Today alt-pop trailblazers Kero Kero Bonito -- a.k.a. Sarah Midori Perry / Sarah Bonito, Gus Lobban and Jamie Bulled -- release their new EP Civilisation II, the long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s Civilisation I. Out today 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 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.
To celebrate the release of Civilisation II, KKB shares a video for the second single off of the EP, “21/04/20,” with a video directed by Dan W. Jacobs. Watch HERE.
KKB says of the EP: “Civilisation II is the sequel to our 2019 EP Civilisation I. Like it's predecessor, Civilisation II explores lost world art pop, made entirely with old synthesisers and assorted junk in our quest to realise a fantastical parallel timeline for pop music, with lyrics encompassing religion, our society and the environment.
Each of Civilisation II's three tracks are set in the past, present and future respectively. "The Princess and the Clock" (past) is a legend of our own invention, designed to feel like a familiar folk tale. It tells the story of a young explorer who was kidnapped and revered as a princess by an isolated society; her worshippers later found her gone, but it's up to the listener to guess her fate. "21/04/20" (present) recounts a typical day in the early Covid lockdown in Bromley (South London), complete with a late leftover pasta breakfast, enthusiastic joggers and friendship conducted over video call. Its direct, documentary style was inspired by narrative art like the Bayeux Tapestry and Trajan's Column. "Well Rested" (future), our longest track yet at over seven minutes, addresses The Resurrection and humanity's distant future. It's a humanist manifesto for the Anthropocene in several parts incorporating chants, an insistent four-to-the-floor and field recordings of natural sites.
The Civilisation era, with its conflation of time on the grandest scale, is a bridge between our more personal 2018 album Time 'n' Place and KKB's next move. Whatever that may be, don't forget: You Cannot Stop Civilisation.”
The release of “21/04/20” follows the EP’s lead single “The Princess and The Clock,” 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.
Kero Kero Bonito will also be participating in a live taping of The Needle Drop Podcast with Anthony Fantano on April 21st at 12:00 PM EST.
Early Praise for Civilisation II + “The Princess and The Clock”:
"If Aphex Twin, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and The Human League dropped a collaborative single, it might turn out like the refreshing synthpop pinball of Kero Kero Bonito's latest." - The FADER
"Peppy and eccentric electronic trio Kero Kero Bonito drop off this video game-sounding theme song about an imprisoned princess who plots her escape." - NYLON
“The song itself is bright and peppy but there's an undercurrent of sadness, a resignation that it's easier to dream of escape than to actually take action...It's a good synthesis of the band's poppy beginnings and their more recent rock-oriented bent. When the chorus takes off, it sounds like a bunch of flower petals sailing through the air, delicate but fleeting” - Stereogum
"The Princess and the Clock” is experimental and upbeat, with a chiptune-esque feel that can be found throughout Kero Kero Bonito’s discography." - Paste Magazine
“This is one of Kero Kero Bonito's most ambitious tracks ever while simultaneously holding to the core sounds and influences that people got onto the Kero Kero train with to begin with." - The Needle Drop
"Exuberant" - Uproxx
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 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.
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