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Apr 22, 2021 By Joey Arnone Photography by Matilda Hill-Jenkins

Yesterday, Kero Kero Bonito released their new EP, Civilisation II. They have also shared an animated video for a song from the EP titled “21/04/20.” Check out the Dan W Jacobs-directed video below, along with the EP in full. Read our review of Civilisation II here.

The trio speaks about their new EP in a press release: “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.”

Back in February, the trio released the song “The Princess and the Clock” coinciding with the EP’s announcement, and it was featured on our Songs of the Week. In addition to “The Princess and the Clock” and “21/04/20,” Civilisation II features the song “Well Rested,” a seven-minute-long dance tune with four-on-the-floor rhythms, shimmering analog synths, and spoken word interludes by frontwoman Sarah Bonito. It oscillates between spoken word and singing refrains by Bonito before delving off into ambient nature sounds.

The trio’s Civilisation I EP came out back in 2019.

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