The Heads’ Simon Price returns to his kandodo project with theendisinpsych: “primitive pieces of psychedelic tuneage + years of wasted time = 43 minutes of headphone bliss.”
It’s the follow up to the 2019 collaboration with Wayne Maskell and Hugo Morgan, Kandodo 3 – K3, but this time back in solo-mode. He is now relocated in Northumbria, and has recorded the album himself in his home studio, drawing on his wide collection of music/instruments and the rural environment for inspiration.
The new album fizzes and crackles with a verve that will activate the “turn on, tune in, drop out” sense in all listeners and comes with “african/stationtostation artwork stylings for the sleeve… ”
Writing about our premiere ‘chamba7’ Simon adopts the tone of a ChatGPT prompt, stating only: “octave mandolin through fuzz, tambo beat, in praise of Bowie compilations. chamba is malawian weed”.
Known as the singer/guitarist of The Heads, Price was raised in Zambia and Malawi, which left an indelible mark on him personally, and is manifest in the song titles, artwork, and title of the project (inspired by a Malawian supermarket of the same name). kandodo is for Price an exploration of tones, chords, and textures that evoke a very particular emotional response, a sense of yearning. These instrumental pieces are lyrical and evocative soundtracks with an elongated and elegant song structure.
Describing them himself as “fuzzy lullabies”, Simon’s pieces undulate as delicate layers are built and removed, easing the listener along a thread of melodies. Along the way, Simon touches on influences as diverse as Kraftwerk, Neu!, Eno, Morricone, Stooges, Loop, and Spacemen 3.This is immersive music meant to be listened to at a loud volume or in the space between headphones.
theendispsych is released on 13 September vis Rooster Records and can pre-ordered and downloaded on Bandcamp. A special limited edition vinyl can be pre-ordered HERE
