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Free Download: New Single From Jim Kroft
2013 proved a typically turbulent year for Jim Kroft. After releasing his first two records on independent labels he was signed by EMI. Releasing his first record on a major label was a bittersweet experience for Jim. The album landed in the shops the day before the Universal takeover was finalized in the European Courts, becoming the last ever to be released on the historic EMI label. He also discovered the morning after the record was released that, along with every other domestic EMI newcomer that his album promotion was over.
Downtrodden and reaching something of a nadir Jim set about two tasks. First was the attempt to make life financially tenable. Having developed his film making as a necessary tool as an independent artist, “Kroft Films” was established as both an income provider for Jim and an enabler for other musicians and artists. Gaining recognition in the business place, commissions came in from Reebok, Universal Music, Virgin Media and Laphroaig Whiskey. Second, deprived of the traditional support from a major label campaign, Jim set about a 6 month campaign to recover the rights to his music.
Having raised the funds both through his film making and a recently signed worldwide publishing deal with “BMG Rights”, 2014 finds Jim heartened at the unexpected possibility of finally releasing “Lunatic Lullabies” in his native UK . It is one part Lazarus story, one part a joyful kamikaze ride into the face of the modern music industry. With so little budget, Jim knows the likelihood of recoupment is next to nil. The release is at best a leap of faith, at worst sheer folly. But with a sense of belief in the relevance of music and the power of an idea, he feels it’s a gamble worth taking. Having interviewed the late author Colin Wilson (The Outsider, 1954) shortly before his death, Jim believes it is a time for the underdog as the industry fragments into a splintering system of fan driven ecosystems. In this way Jim is part of a growing society of independent guerillas, moving with mobility and the ability to seize random and unexpected opportunities.
“I Hope You Know” is the first single taken from Jim Kroft´s new album “Lunatic Lullabies” and finds the songwriter in dialogue with the great behemoth of pop culture. Whether reacting to conflict in society, hero stories, mighty villains, destructive monsters, or just the full sweeping tide of modernity itself – the song is an effort to process the great narrative. With a video featuring collaborations and guest features from everyone from Godzilla to Che, Zidane to Lance Armstrong, Elvis to Muhammad Ali – it forms a little meditation on how great a man can rise and how quickly and utterly he can fall. After losing his record contract when Universal took over EMI, Kroft fought back for the rights for his album, shot and directed his own videos on a zero budget, and continued his own journey with an attempt to rise when life had asked him to fall. “I Hope You Know” signals the aesthetic of “Lunatic Lullabies” and a songwriter approaching his music with renewed vigour.
Supporting acts such as Anna Calvi, Peaches, Airborne Toxic Event and Sunrise Avenue, Jim found that his long journey was finally coming to fruition. Enjoying new opportunities in 2013 after being signed to EMI, and touring from Slovakia to Scotland, many of the songs on Lunatic Lullabies were written and recorded in a haze of activity and exhaustion on and off the road. This period of buzz and excitement is reflected in the energy and positivity of a man finally making his mark after many up´s and down´s in the music business.
Recorded in London by Matt Ingram (drummer for Tom Odell, Paloma Faith, Laura Marling) and Dan Cox (Three Trapped Tigers, Fyfe Dangerfield) mixed by Richard Wilkinson (Lianne La Havas, Bombay Bicycle Club, Adele) and mastered by Matt Colton (James Blake, Coldplay) – Lunatic Lullabies is an album containing the full kaleidoscope of Kroft´s life, as he has attempted to make a musical career in a non-English speaking country and a collapsing industry. With its meditations on weakness and strength, language of negation and creation, it is an album where positive and negative are pregnant with one another – and find final housing in the penning of a song.
Lunatic Lullabies is out on April 14th on Jackalope Recordings.