Kodiak Island shares video from 9 Oct album (Green Man Festival founder’s new band)
KODIAK ISLAND
release second album ‘The Amber Road’
out 9 October 2020 on Musical Bear Records
album preceded by 28 August single ‘Simplexity’
https://www.facebook.com/kodiakislandmusic/
https://www.musicalbearrecords.co.uk
Watch video for ‘Simplexity’
Sly and intelligent music’ – Q‘Rambling Bob Dylan meets Scotch mist’ – The Evening Standard‘Irresistible songs as full of sly fun as wide-eyed wonder’ – The TimesSet for release on 9 October 2020, ‘The Amber Road’ is the second album from Jo Bartlett’s Kodiak Island, and follows 2018’s ‘The Golden Section’ which was also released on Musical Bear. The album will be preceded by the release of ‘Simplexity’, the first track to be lifted from ‘The Amber Road’ on 28 August.Listen to ‘Simplexity’ here:
Hailing from Surrey and Hampshire, Kodiak Island rehearse in Jo’s house, and record at Richard H‘s. ‘The Amber Road’ was recorded over a number of months, either by going to Richard’s garage studio or sharing files over the internet, more of the latter during lock down!
“I love this band and I love ‘The Amber Road’” says Jo, “we were listening to The Byrds, Joni Mitchell and Four Tet while we were recording.”
Having previously recorded as It’s Jo & Danny and released records as a teenager, Jo founded The Green Man Festival, and has had a colourful musical life which is reflected in her blog site Indie Through The Looking Glass https://www.indiethroughthelookingglass.com
“I was in my first band at 14 and promoted my first gig at 17” she says, having booked and promoted hundreds of gigs at The Buzz Club in Aldershot including The Stone Roses, Blur, The Manic Street Preachers, Suede, The Happy Mondays, Primal Scream and The Charlatans.
“I was always in bands while promoting those gigs, always singing and playing guitar, and was part of the early indie C-86 movement, releasing a couple of 12″s on Dan Treacy’s Dreamworld Records”Signed to Sony / BMG in 2000 as It’s Jo & Danny, part of the burgeoning folktronica movement that spawned Four Tet and The Beta Band, their debut album ‘Lank Haired Girl To Bearded Boy’ was rewarded with a plethora of 4 star reviews and plays on daytime Radio 1. “I had my music used for the goal round up on Match of the Day and had a Single of the Week on the Virgin Radio drive time show”, she adds.I
n 2003 Jo founded The Green Man Festival in Wales which she ran until 2011, booking such artists as Robert Plant, The Flaming Lips, Bon Iver, Mumford and Sons, James Blake, The National and Laura Marling.Jo continued to be at the forefront of the Freak Folk scene before forming her psychedelic instrumental quartet, The Yellow Moon Band “As The Yellow Moon Band, I had my music used by Liam Gallagher to advertise his Pretty Green clothing label and included on the Guitar Hero computer game, alongside The Rolling Stones, White Stripes, David Bowie and Nirvana” she recalls.Kodiak Island play live when they can (or could). Local bars, micro breweries in East London, record shops, clothes shops, parties, small festivals in the Sussex woods, and are looking forward to playing again after the crazy is over.
Kodiak Island are
Jo Bartlett – Vocals, Guitar, synth.
Richard H – Guitar, vocals, synth.
Mike Muggeridge – Bass guitar.
Gareth Palmer – Cajon, percussion, programmed beats, vocals.
Matthew Cocks – Synths.