Kula Shaker
Strangefolk

Well, yes, Crispian Mills has resurrected his Kula Shaker.

Make no mistake, this is a real reunion, not like the fake one staged by the good Billy Corgan for his "Smashing Pumpkins 2". Reunited in 2005, the Kula Shaker recorded an EP in 2006, "Revenge of the King", promoting it with a small tour in the UK, and now they are back with their third studio album, "Strangefolk". The only difference compared to the old lineup is the replacement of the former keyboardist Jay Darlington (who now plays with Oasis) with the Welshman Harry Broadbent. The backbone, and especially the Mills-Alonza songwriting duo, remains the same.

Let's say right away that "Strangefolk" does not reach the heights of the masterpiece "K", but it comes quite close to the still good "Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts". The album basically has two sides: in the first 4 tracks, we find a decidedly less Indian and psychedelic attitude than the first two albums, which winks at the catchiest and most radio-friendly pop, as in the decidedly convincing opening of "Out on the Highway" or in the ballad "Die for Love". But be careful: Mills is, in my opinion, someone who really knows how to do pop. Try listening to the choruses and solo of the single "Second Sight" and you will find yourself faced with a little pop-rock gem of exquisitely refined craftsmanship. And it's not the only one: I still recall the already mentioned "Out on the Highway", pure Brit-pop with plenty of guitar strumming and (intentionally?) sappy lyrics, yet engaging overall, and the strange and ironic "Dictator of the Free World", imbued with sixties attitudes and deliberately generic in portraying the powerful tyrant of the moment, almost playfully paying homage to the more "political" Dylan.

Starting from the watershed moment "Strangefolk", the album takes on a "fairy-tale" turn, reminding us a bit of the old Kula: India is still missing here, present only in the excellent "Song of Love/Narayana", which is, however, a rearrangement of an old piece written by Mills together with The Prodigy and included in "Fat of the Land". A beautiful piece, but it feels a bit like a consolation for the early fans.

Anyway, from this point on, the tracks become longer, there seems to be a need for a narrative, an "epic" horizon (is that where the title Strangefolk comes from? who knows) and a broader scope. It's a more relaxed psychedelia, less "cocky" than what Mills and company had accustomed us to. It's in this vein that what I believe is the best track on the album fits in: "Hurricane Season", an epic and syncopated track (a truly splendid arrangement) sung by Mills with a blatantly Dylan-like approach (there's quite a bit of Dylan in "Strangefolk", in my opinion) that tells the story of an unlucky ship captain in search of treasure who finds himself in the middle of a storm. A tapestry of acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and piano, complete with seagulls in the background. Nothing new under the sun, but what class.

The other tracks that close "Strangefolk" do not reach the peak of Hurricane Season but are quite listenable, particularly the Beatles-esque "Ol'Jack Tar" and "Dr.Kitt", which seem, in some way, to continue the sailor's story. The closure is entrusted to "Super CB Operator", a cheerful and carefree track that doesn't really connect with the previous ones, seeming randomly thrown in. Incomprehensible.

Summing up, we can say that "Strangefolk" is a good album, although it lacks a bit of cohesiveness and originality, but after all, we are not talking about Radiohead or Deus. The two sides could perhaps have been better integrated, but the material is definitely there. Mills does not hide his influences and knows how to rework them in a truly elegant way, in my opinion. And let's face it: in the contemporary rock landscape, we could use more groups like Kula Shaker.

One of the few reunions that was truly needed.