KURO are set to release their self-titled debut album via Rocket Recordings later this week and ahead of that, we are offering you the chance to check it out in full above.
The band are comprised of two Bristol-based musicians Agathe Max, violinist and Gareth Turner. As a classically trained violinist, Max claims that she has “… always tried to avoid boundaries between musical genres in order to create bridges and freedom that allows the instrument to express its potential.” and that “in KURO I feel that I just find the balance between experimentation and a more classical approach in the melodies and harmonies but here again I think more in terms of layers than notes.” On this debut release, this comes together through Max and sound engineer Turner’s combination of psych, drone and ambience.
The name KURO is taken from the Japanese translation of black, and Max says that this is due to a “common passion for Japan and obviously black as a colour. Black can only exist and reveal its beauty because of light so it is not as dark as it can sound, the contrast expresses a radicalness and a minimalism that suits our music.”
KURO also take spiritual influences from music rather than from outside of it; Max expresses the duo’s shared love for “Alice Coltrane, the track ‘Ishtar’ has a lot of influence.” Turner finds that “making music is an emotional soulful spiritual experience” and that he “can’t help being affected by it in that way.” The album is out on November 11 and can be pre-ordered here.
