Kaktus Einarsson links up with Damon Albarn on new single, "Gumbri"

"Gumbri" features long-time friend and collaborator Damon Albarn. The Blur/Gorillaz frontman and Kaktus have known each other for many years, Kaktus played trumpet on "Stop The Dams" at age 15, and shortly after he was flown to London to work on Damon’s debut solo album, Everyday Robots, which they then toured together. Kaktus also engineered Maison Des Jeunes for the Africa Express project that Albarn launched.

“After one or two margaritas on New Year’s Eve, 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," Kaktus explains. "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 4^th 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”.

Lobster Coda is an honest account of his recovery from a sudden functional neurological disorder (FND) that required him to relearn how to use his motor functions, while also performing his duties as a new father. The album features appearances from School of X, Nanna (Of Monsters and Men) and Damon Albarn.

“Recovery is ongoing to be honest. But I think this experience is almost like a test, it’s a mirror that I can hold up to the stress and pressures in everyday life. This kind of high intensity pressure, it’s not normal," Kaktus continues. "I learned that recovery isn’t linear, there are good days and bad days, sometimes you get setbacks. Despite all of this, it’s a big relief that there wasn’t anything wrong with my spine, I didn't have MS, or anything chronic. I was very lucky. I got a warning card. I remind myself of that, and every day is good”.