Track By Track: Jens Kuross on his Jens Kuross EP
L.A.-based troubadour Jens Kuross runs us through his eponymous debut EP as he prepares to release it onto the world.
Kuross won over our hearts with stellar songs such as "Steadier" and "Nobody's Problem", and tomorrow the Jens Kuross EP will be released via Aesop. He's also set to play an intimate show at London's St. Pancras Old Church to celebrate the release.
Hear first single "Steadier" below, and get to know the heart-shatteringly evocative first release from Kuross after.
Steadier
One part Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", and two parts my own romantic failures. Maybe the endlessly skipping record that forms the rhythmic bedrock of the track is a statement about the futility of trying to escape self-sabotaging patterns in intimate relationships... nope, it's just a coincidence.
Nobody's Problem
This song is all about trying to make a state of despair sound like it isn't quite so desperate. It's couching a melancholy lyric in some super traditional, dominant harmony, and then being performed by a couple of talented musicians on instruments that they weren't familiar with. We did it all live in a single take. Sometimes you get lucky.
Try To Follow
My inner drummer nerd is a sucker for poly-rhythms. My outer drummer nerd is a sucker for some jazzy ride-cymbal and I was powerless to stop them from having their way with this one. Then I combined the rhythmic concept with some chords that are individually super dissonant and crunchy, but happen to sound super beautiful in context. The rest was mostly a result of some jetlag, sleep deprivation, and otherwise just being seriously exhausted. Seriously exhausted. Seriously.
Wilderness
For the most part the chords in this tune are entirely diatonic, but the two that aren't really raise the eyebrows. Gotta sneak that darkness in where you can. It can be the skeletons hiding in the closet that give a song that's otherwise just "pretty" some real depth. The same goes for the lyrics: It's an emotive plea for true romance, or is it? I'm all about juxtapositions.
Stream Kuross' self-titled EP below, and check out his upcoming tour dates afterwards.
May
27 - St Pancras Old Church - London, UK
28 - Huis 23, Brussels - Belgium
29 - Kleiner Donner - Hamburg, Germany
30 - Badehaus Szimpla - Berlin, Germany
June
1 - Divan du Monde - Paris, France
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