Junkboy - Koyo (Vinyl LP, CD)

Nature’s vivid changing colours are the inspiration behind the Japanese name of Mik and Rich Hanscomb’s fourth album. “My penfriend’s niece was born shortly after we’d recorded. They called her Koyo which also means ‘gentle sunlight’. We felt the word perfectly sums up our new music” explains Rich. Made entirely in the brothers’ adopted home of Brighton and Hove, Mik and Rich utilized a pool of locally sourced talent to help shape Koyo. Various members of the Willkommen Collective as well as other musicians suffused proceedings with their individuality. Listen out for Japanese artist, Cima Cima, on Present as well as one Elizabeth Walling a.k.a. Gazelle Twin, who coos over the third-eye dilating psychedelia of Dr Rendezvous in a most striking way. Lo-fidelity, pastoral whimsy and warmth are typical traits of Junkboy’s sound as exemplified by Stendhal Syndrome and opener, Firth, the latter written one snow bound day whilst the brothers soaked up John Cameron’s Kes OST. The surreptitious but inevitable changes in nature’s palette are also reflected in the evolution of Junkboy’s sound. Koyo represents a shift to a more song based approach in their music. “We love instrumental, kosmische music– Tones X was a blast to record! - but we also wanted to compose in a traditional sense that reflects our passion for British folk and Laurel Canyon coke blizzard acoustica“ says Mik. On the Shore, Function of the Sun and Pieces in the Sky et al communicate this desire with lush instrumentation and choral vocalistions. Friends (part 2) is a homage to disciples of Brian Wilson who were creatively hustling on the Strip in mid 60s L.A. and were neatly collected on the last Nuggets compilation. ‘Working with our right hand man, Ryan Oliver, we wrote some downbeat lyrics to add a sunlight dampening English quality” continues Mik, melancholy to the end. Mik and Rich were also inspired by the contemporary psychedelic budget pop of Gary Warr and Sore Eros, most noticeable on the tape saturated rush of Home, an ode to leaving one life behind to start afresh. Koyo is the boys’ most beautiful record yet. It’s a heady, home-recorded trip that meshes fully formed songs and wordless, bucolic post-rocking soulfulness– lovingly spun aural candy floss to be devoured by the i-Pod generation and Long Playing vinyl fetishists alike. Mik, Rich and Ryan will be DJing and taking a band out to play selected dates throughout the rest of the year so that you can bathe in the luxuriating love of Junkboy live. 1. Firth 2. Home 3. Friends (part 2) 4. Function of the Sun 5. Pieces in the Sky 6. Dr. Rendezvous 7. Present 8. Stendhal Syndrome 9. Ghosts 10. On the Shore 11. Let the Light In 12. Tones X

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