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WL//WH Premiere: KAI TAK (ft. Chelsey Boy) “Until We Leave From Here”

WL//WH Premiere: KAI TAK (ft. Chelsey Boy) “Until We Leave From Here”

21 June 2024 Features, New Music, WL//WH Video Of The Day

Premiere  KAI TAK ft. Chelsey Boy

Named in homage to the now-retired Hong Kong airport known for its harrowing approach through the city’s skyscrapers, LA-based Dream Pop music collective Kai Tak, led by Hong Kong-born producer Chris King, also known for being a member of the wave /post-punkers Cold Showers, unveil their latest single, “Until We Leave From Here” (feat. Chelsey Boy), lifted from Kai Tak’s debut album, “Designed In Heaven Made In Hong Kong”, scheduled for release today, June 21, 2024, via A La Carte Records.

Kai Tak‘s first LP, featuring several different collaborators, each bearing distinctive vocal nuances and perspectives, sculpts moody mesmerizing soundscapes that pull sonic inspiration from Shoegaze, Trip-Hop, and Electronica.

This song started as a visual journey, with Chris showing me a photo from “City of Darkness: Life In Kowloon Walled City,” a book by Greg Girard and Ian Lambot that explored Hong Kong’s notorious city within a city. The photo depicted kids playing on the dense rooftops of the Walled City amidst this maze of telephone wires. I was totally transported to this bygone era, and knew this song had to reflect that photo’s intersection of history, urban culture, and human resilience. Every song on this album tells a story and it’s been such a privilege collaborating with Chris on it and learning more about the city he once called home.says Chelsey

LP Artwork by Paige Emery

Asian aural fragrances effuse over the vibrant and nostalgic Shoegaze-tinged “Until We Leave From Here” skipping on the steady hypnotic drive of resonant drum patterns and warm bass pulses, encased in a shivering invigorating haze of swelling, distorted guitar layers, exotic plucked strings and poignant high-pitched licks, to surround the beautifully evocative Chelsey Boy vocals, delivering heartwarming comfort and care, with a stirring ambience of found sounds and background chatter.

I’ve always been fascinated by the phenomenon of how much more generous and tight-knit communities that deal with poverty are compared to the selfishness, distance and lack of empathy that you always feel in communities of affluence. No place exemplified this better than Kowloon Walled City, and while it may have seemed dangerous, scary, or depressing to outsiders, it had a distinct spirit of hopefulness and togetherness that still inspires me to this day. The Walled City was the most densely populated place on the planet. It was also located right by the old Kai Tak airport, and the planes would fly right over it as they made their landing approach, and having watched countless planes fly into Kai Tak as a kid, I wanted to capture that feeling as well.says Chris King

Kai Tak‘s “Until We Leave From Here” (feat. Chelsey Boy), is included in Kai Tak’s debut studio album, “Designed In Heaven Made In Hong Kong”, scheduled for release today, June 21, 2024, via A La Carte Records.  The Ltd. Vinyl 12″ Edition is on pre-order at this link.

After just over a year of live performances, successfully opening for Blonde Redhead and Public Memory, the band plans to tour in support of the album.

Keep up with Kai Tak:

Single artwork by Paige Emery

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