Kai Tak is a music collective based in Los Angeles, spearheaded by producer Chris King, notable for his involvement in Cold Showers and production contributions to artists like Tamaryn, House of Harm, and Fearing. Their upcoming album, Designed In Heaven Made In Hong Kong, set to be released on June 21st, 2024, via à La Carte Records, features the track Flood The Harbour, a moody song which includes collaborations with Olivia Lee from There's Talk and Tamaryn.
Kai Tak, whose name pays homage to the now-retired Hong Kong airport that gained notoriety for its terrifying approach through the city's skyscrapers, creates gloomy soundscapes influenced by shoegaze, trip-hop, and electronica.
Chris King comments on the new track: "The music for Flood the Harbour was written on the same day I wrote, 'Blush.' After feeling uninspired for a long time, I spent the day repeatedly watching Fallen Angels on mute while messing around with instruments, and 90% of both songs were written in a few hours. Whenever I'm working on something new, I always give the songs a temporary working title of the neighborhood that inspired the tune, or that I'm using found samples from, and this song drew from Yau Ma Tei. Formerly a little fishing bay, Yau Ma Tei has been built extensively upon reclaimed land. Because of Hong Kong's limited usable land and massive population density, land reclamation has been a central part of the city's growth over the past century - over 60 km of land has been added to the city from land reclamation projects, including part of the old Kai Tak airport, and just thinking about land reclamation and it's endless ripples helped shape the song."
On the song, Olivia Lee adds: "I aligned on inspiration with Chris - the lyrics came to mind after simmering on the working title for the song, Yau Ma Tei, as well as hazy neon-lit montages from Fallen Angels. Sinking into the broodiness of the song, images of a revolution on the heels of the end of the world engulfed in flames and flood came to mind. Perhaps a meditation on the consequences of colonialism and corporate greed, and who will have the last word."
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ZR