Productive and unable to remain uninspired, Hamburg's Kraków Loves Adana make a booming return with the announcement of their seventh album, Oceanflower, the follow-up to a pair of great records, Follow The Voice (2021) and Darkest Dreams (2020). The album is introduced quite impressively, with a collaboration with former Chromatics members, Ruth Radelet and Adam Miller.
When Adam Miller and KLA's Deniz Çiçek were coming up with ideas for the new album's songs, the demo for When The Storm Comes stuck out. A wistful and melodic track about defeating difficulties and looking on the brighter side of the future, it naturally became the record's first single.
The accompanying video to the single was directed by Wesley Doloris, with the musicians filming their contributing scenes in Los Angeles and Hamburg respectively.
“I came up with the title and the chorus almost 10 years ago but never managed to build a proper song around it. When I showed the demo to Adam it immediately struck a chord with the both of us,” Çiçek unfolds.
Adam Miller comments on working with Çiçek: “I first met Deniz and Rob from Krakow Loves Adana in 2019 when they opened up some shows for Chromatics in Europe on what ended up to be our last ever tour. I was immediately in awe of the gigantic melodies in their songs which tugged at my heart. So over the pandemic when Deniz asked me if I would be interested in collaborating with her on some music, those melodies left me no choice but to say yes.“
Ruth Radelet remarks: “I became friends with Krakow Loves Adana after playing some shows with them in 2019. I am a big fan of their music and they are fantastic people as well, so I was excited when Deniz asked me to contribute guest vocals on When the Storm Comes. Filming the video was a fun project too - Adam and I had a great time running around LA together, and I love how Wesley Doloris’ shots of us work so well with Deniz’s footage from Germany.”
Çiçek comments on Oceanflower as a whole: “In a way I dedicate this record to my younger self. People always like to say that those are the best years of our lives but for me, I was often in pain and had a hard time dealing with life. I made this record detached from any expectations in a challenging phase - torn between wanting to quit music altogether and not knowing how to go on with my life.”
Deniz's birth name which translates to Ocean Flower from Turkish, inspired the title of Kraków Loves Adana's upcoming album. Promising to be KLA's most appeasing album thus far, Oceanflower is expected to present a fine balance of melancholy and optimism, which certainly matches the band's songwriting and sound.
Oceanflower will be released on February 14th 2023. Deniz Çiçek wrote the album in the Winter of 2020-2021 in her home studio.
Single artwork by Adam Miller
Album artwork by Anna Degnbol