Damon Albarn and Kaktus Einarsson team up for joyful new single ‘Gumbri’
Damon Albarn and Kaktus Einarsson have joined forces for the new single ‘Gumbri’, from Einarsson’s upcoming album ‘Lobster Coda’. Check it out below.
The collaboration follows years of the pair working together, beginning in 2007 when a then-15-year-old Einarsson played trumped on the Gorillaz track ‘Stop The Dams’ from their compilation album ‘D-Sides‘. Then, in 2014, he flew from his native Iceland to London to work on Albarn’s debut solo album ‘Everyday Robots‘, and two years later Albarn remixed Ballerina in the Rain’, a track from Einarsson’s band Fufanu.
‘Gumbri’, seems them team up for their first track together as solo artists, and marks the first single from ‘Lobster Coda’, which will be released October 25. You can pre-order here.
Einarsson says the idea to collaborate was spurred “after one or two margaritas on New Year’s Eve”. In a press release, the musician said: “We were chatting about music, the future and playing some demos. Before my demo of Gumbri came on, I joked that it would be a track he’d want to feature on.
“A few bars into the song, he looked at me and said “yeah, ok!”. I didn’t think much of it for a few days, until Damon’s studio manager called 4th of January and asked me for the stems. I already thought it was one of the best songs I had for the record, so to have my good friend and mentor joining me on it is a pure pleasure”.
Over a groovy instrumental, ‘Gumbri’ sees the duo get introspective, pondering new outlooks on life. “Living on the edge embrace a unique sound/New soil in my palm with every sun that sets,” Albarn sings in the chorus. “I drift and roll, a subtle flow/As the world reveals its truths one by one/I start to feel where my life needs to go.”
Alongside the track, the pair have shared a psychedelic video, that sees them lounge amongst trees in the woods, running down country roads and even feeding chickens. Check it out below.
‘Lobster Coda’ chronicles Einarsson’s recovery from a sudden functional neurological disorder that resulted in him having to relearn how to use his motor functions, all while becoming a father. After suffering a stress-induced nonepileptic seizure that halted his brain’s ability to communicate with the rest of his body, he lost control of his legs and arms and developed involuntary facial tics.
A press release for the album says it’s a record about “taking the time to reflect and recognise changes that need to be made, to listen to your body, and to trust the process no matter how long it might take.”
Check out the album’s artwork and tracklist below.
‘Lobster Coda’s tracklist is:
1. ‘Lobster Coda’
2. ‘Daze Gold’ (feat. School of X)
3. ‘Be This Way’ (feat. Nanna)
4. ‘Saka’
5. ‘Heart Spell’
6. ‘Koddi’
7. ‘White Burn’
8. ‘Gumbri’ (feat. Damon Albarn)
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Laura Molloy
NME
