Bokka at City Sounds in Eter: the debut album and “Town of Strangers” in Wrocław

23 FEBRUARY 2014

BOKKA’s NEXTPOP debut was simply titled “BOKKA”. Within a day, the promotional “Town of Strangers” video filled most social-media posts by Polish fans and journalists. Western media also took notice, with Pitchfork among those writing about the single. “BOKKA” frequently ranks highly in round-ups of 2013’s best music releases. Critics and listeners were captivated not only by its contemporary sound filled with environmental noises, but also by the mystery surrounding the members’ identities.

BOKKA are also the first Polish band to join this year's Open’er Festival line-up. All we know is that they come from Warsaw. Their debut video, “Town of Strangers”, was made by the young directing and cinematography collective PSYCHOKINO. “Town of strangers” offers cinematic imagery and music that speaks for itself.

BOKKA’s debut coherently combines contemporary thinking, original compositions and bold experimentation. Songs began with everyday sounds: a shaken water bottle, tissue and shoe boxes struck, nuts dropped into a drum. Continuous, unrestricted playfulness runs throughout. We hear the straight-from-the-1980s “Violet Mountain Tops” and new-wave “K&B”, exploding into a vibrant coda that, like the positive-energy-filled “Reason”, lifts listeners from their chairs.

Then there is “Strange Spaces”, a mix of seemingly incompatible elements, where an electro beat becomes the backdrop for a psychedelic guitar solo worthy of King Crimson's finest work. Elsewhere, we enter the monumental, nostalgic “Places I've Never Been To” and the strongly experimental, introverted “I'm All That I've Lost”, recalling the greatest gems of Scandinavian electronica.

The album's promotional single, “Town Of Strangers”, is built on hypnotic vocals and a minimalist beat that sounds as though it comes from an old vinyl record. In it, a shaken bottle of water sounds in place of a traditional snare drum.

BOKKA's album carries the name of the rapidly developing NEXTPOP music label, known for producing and promoting outstanding original music with the power to transport listeners to another dimension. The songwriter-focused label releases artists including KARI (Kari Amirian) and Fismoll.

http://www.facebook.com/BOKKAMUSIC
http://www.facebook.com/NEXTPOP
http://www.facebook.com/PSYCHOKINO

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