Bristol based band Cousin Kula flutter into the collective consciousness with a timeless slice of psychedelic soul on new single “BabyBack”.
With co-signs from the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD (Cousin Kula were personally asked by BBNG to cover their track “Signal From The Noise“) and newly signed to Rhythm Section, Cousin Kula are the latest band to emerge out of the buoyant Bristol music scene. For new single “BabyBack”, they have stripped back all excess baggage, offering up a bittersweet ode to a love lost. Lead singer Elliot Ellison explains:
“BabyBack is about the ups and downs of a long distance relationship, and how it can wear down until eventually fading into a world of abstraction where really your relationship is all through a phone and not physical, or as tangible as it once was. My favourite line is the first of the pre chorus ‘waiting around, for a change, floating, face down, in a lake of lost love’. This for me sums up the whole tune.”
Flanged guitars swirl longingly around rubbery synth bass, shimmering keys and delicate four-part harmonies all held down by the tightest of grooves. “We spent too long floating around off the beaten track” reminisces Elliot; whose unfaltering falsetto brings all these elements together and frames them in rose tinted spectacles.
Cousin Kula have created their own musical universe of otherworldly pop serenity – existing on a similar plane to contemporaries such as Connan Mockasin, Mildlife, Toro Y Moi, Mac DeMarco and HOMESHAKE. Catching the attention of renowned tastemaker Bradley Zero with their ‘Casa Kula Cassette’ EP at the end of 2020, the Rhythm Section founder has swiftly taken the Bristol 5 piece under his wing, with him commenting:
“The band balance an outsider approach with more hooks than you can shake a stick at… the result being a gently beguiling sound that effortlessly draws you in, revealing more character with each listen.”
This is merely a taste of what’s to come. The album drops late 2021 – get ready. Cousin Kula’s new single “BabyBack” is out now via Rhythm Section.
