KULA SHAKER’s irrepressible return continues apace as the original line-up announce the release of a brand new single “Charge of The Light Brigade” on Strangefolk Records.
Packed with allusions to spiritual vampires and the fairy cavalcade of Celtic folklore, this three-minute musical trip is the first of a number of new tracks the band have recorded for their upcoming eighth studio album (title to be announced) and heralds their March/April shows in the U.K., where they will be riding out with Ocean Colour Scene as very special guests on their 2025 tour.
The tour, with extra dates added due to huge demand, kicked off on March 27th in Leeds, UK and runs until May 4th in Newcastle, will see the bands playing 24 dates across the country including two dates at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on April 4th and May 1st and two dates in Glasgow on the 15th and 16th of April. U.S. dates to be announced shortly!
With their seventh and latest album Natural Magick (2024) released across the world and topping the Independent Album Charts in the UK (“The best album of their career” – Shindig!), and having completed successful tours of North America, Asia, the UK and Europe last year, Kula Shaker are well and truly back in the saddle, galloping at speed, in a startling return to form.
The band’s sound feels more amplified than ever with the return of Hammond organ wizard Jay Darlington after a decade with Oasis and various Gallaghers, reuniting all four members of the band’s classic line-up (Crispian Mills: guitar/vocals; Jay Darlington: Hammond organ; Alonza Bevan: bass; Paul Winter-Hart: drums) for the first time since 1999’s Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts.
Delivering that renewed wild energy we know and love, Natural Magick proved to be a mesmeric 13-track incantation incorporating blazing psychedelic sermons, raga rave-ups, stardust-coated pop pearls and mood-enhancing mantras. A technicolor sonic pathway towards a more enlightened state of mind, this was Kula Shaker casting their most powerful spell yet.
Named after a ninth-century mystic, Kula Shaker first carried their freak flag of spiritual sonics to the top during the heady days of Britpop, first with their debut hit “Grateful When You’re Dead” / “Jerry Was There,” followed by top five songs like “Hush” and “Tattva” (a pop song written in Sanskrit) before releasing the legendary “Govinda.” The band became UK album chart-toppers with 1996’s imperious multi-platinum selling debut album K and the follow-up Peasants Pigs & Astronauts saw them push the creative envelope further, prior to their premature dissolution.
Having formed their own label Strangefolk in 2007, Kula Shaker have slowly but surely returned to their sonic summit, with a prolific surge of writing, which began in 2023 with 1st Congregational Church Of Eternal Love And Free Hugs, followed by their acclaimed Natural Magick in 2024.
Sounding the charge for 2025, this new song continues the ever-evolving Kula Shaker legend, which has both entertained and inspired listeners for decades, and 2025, and sees the band advance once again as “Charge of The Light Brigade” trailers the release of a new studio album.
25 years on from the debut album K, Kula Shaker have proved they are still one of the most exciting and ecstatic bands around, an unstoppable tour de force, with kinetic energy cursing through every second of their “electric” live shows.
The band will be releasing new music and embarking on international tours, headlining venues and festivals throughout 2025.
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