KURU
By
Flooded
Hallways
Flooded Hallways are the duo of Deeq (Lyrics) and Nemrot
(production). Founded in 1996, Kuru is their first release for six years.
Deeq explained to me that the album was written and recorded
during the hight of the lockdown over the course of 2-3 months. The album is
the groups comment on the state that we have all found ourselves in as we do
our best living on this little island, we call home.
When Deeq explained what the title of the album was all
about, I found it interesting and so I thought I would drop his words here
before I go into my take on the album.
'Kuru is a rare and
fatal nervous system disease. Its highest prevalence occurred during the 1950s
and 1960s among the Fore people in the highlands of New Guinea. The Fore people
contracted the disease by performing cannibalism on corpses during funeral
rituals.
The name kuru means
“to shiver” or “trembling in fear.” The symptoms of the disease include muscle
twitching and loss of coordination. Other
symptoms include difficulty walking, involuntary movements, behavioural and
mood changes, dementia, and difficulty eating. The latter can cause malnutrition. Kuru has no known cure. It’s usually fatal within one year of
contraction.' - definition taken from healthline.com
We feel like the
whole eating your own thing symbolises what's happening in society at the minute
with us (all races, sexes, creeds etc) being pitted against each other,
destroying each other, and being brainwashed into thinking we're different,
when we're not different at all.
This metaphor plus
our experience of lockdown, was the inspiration for the album.
Now that you have a bit of insight into what the album is
about, let me take you through the album and give you my own insight…
The Stage is set for what is to come with a head nod vibe
created around some piano and drums. Illusionary Calm has a laid-back
feel But, it pretty much mirrors what we have all been through in recent
months. There has been so much fear and chaos, that any period of calm we
experience in our day to day lives feels like an illusion and that every moment
is spent wondering what is coming, just as you are wondering what is coming on
this album and Deeq sets that out perfectly here. The boom bap vibe remains prevalent
with heavy mix of drums, strings, and organ notes. Neuter Eunuch comes
from a male or masculine stance and, for me at least, really seems to speak on
those aspects of the self that we may not be proud of and as a result,
especially when things are brought to our attention, we will suppress more that
we need to. What is really needed is an acceptance of both sides of our nature,
both masculine and feminine, and to be at peace with them. Therefore, creating
balance within and so channelling our energy in new ways.
The sparce beat and keyboards of Painstiller creates
a far more thought-provoking vibe. There is a feeling here of someone looking
back on all the pain they have experienced, be it mental health, physical or
emotional. Deeq evokes this vision that this could be anyone of us looking back
at life and realising how far we have come and just being at peace with that.
As your mind drifts there is a switch in mood with drums, guitar, and violin
notes bringing back that head nod boom bap vibe. Numbers Game gets your
mind going as Deeq brings mathematical terms to bear along with his normal
poetical flow. This really makes you think about the universal language of
mathematics and most things in life can be described in terms of being added,
subtracted, multiplied, and divided. Does the fact that we are conscious
beings, with feelings, mean that there is anything more to life…
Pounding drums and horns are the backdrop for Pink Spit,
which has more of a story looking at what could be the darker side of human
nature and choices that can be made as a result of following these paths. Deeq
switches up the descriptive wordplay on this one which looks at a hitman who
has completed his contract and, body in tow, to collect his payment for
services rendered. The mood switches once more to a lighter more soulful vibe
with the piano, vocal samples, and laid-back drums of Barefoot Contessa.
Here Deeq takes on a far more personal trip looking at how he met his wife and their
journey together, through ups and downs, across the last few years of their
relationship. Being so personal you can really feel the depth in the lyrics here
and it really makes you think about the special person in your own life.
Maybelle is an instrumental track from Nemrot. There
is such a multi-layered feel to this with bass, strings, keyboards, vocal
samples, and lots of drums. It really takes you on a ride through switching the
pace and flow. There are times you feel you are just floating, while at other
times you are wondering what’s gonna happen next. Some of the elements are just
like a pause button mix and at the end of the day it’s proper head nod hip hop
that takes you exactly where you wanna go. From that little pallet cleanser, we
are drawn to look at a more darker side to the world we live in. Last Wound
Kills is full of drums, strings and flute notes that brings this feel of
looking into something that is kept in the shadows but, is all to apparent in
the world around us. Deeq does a great job of bringing a poetic focus to those
who chose, through their darker nature, to engage in acts of sadism and such
like. What is troubling about subjects like this is that people still do it and
that they also keep a secret, even from those closest to them and what does
that say about the society we live in…
As we move into the final quarter of the album Nemrot gives
us a head nod beat full of piano, sax, and flute notes to get us moving. As it
gets us moving the story becomes moving in itself, as Deeq takes us through a
personal look at his younger life on Scandinavian Wine. There is this
sense of loss and how being the one lelt behind can so affect your mental
health. You also get this feeling of how hard it is to heal the scars that are
always here. But it’s not always about healing the scars but, using them to as
a marking for how far you have come on your journey. The title here comes from
the feeling of bitterness, just like the bitter taste of wine from the harsh
Scandinavian climate. The final track of the album brings a thought-provoking
air of drums and flute. This Death is a slightly light-hearted look at
death. The focus might simply be looking at death and the fact that things will
be ok in the end but, there is something else, if you read between the lines,
you can look at it another way and know that we can also live through a
symbolic death and be reborn as we turn our lives around.
As you might expect with an album that was conceived, written,
and recorded at the high of some of the strangest times we have all
experienced, there is a lot of stuff here that comes with dark undertones and
rightly so, you cannot reflect on those times and what anyone was feeling
without reflecting the pain and the effect it had on our mental health.
However, there is also enough of the positive vibes to balance it all out.
Deeq does a great job lyrically with, at times, some fairly
complex imagery to give us exactly the right focus for the message he is
putting across, while at other times the pace and thoughtful nature of his
lyrics comes across in such a way as to keep you guessing. But he takes some
deep topics and some very personal stories and delivers them to you in such a
poetic way that, at times, even the dark nature of the subject matter is
eclipsed by his lyrical prowess.
Nemrot delivers some emotive soundscapes that keep the whole
album flowing perfectly through is emotional twists and turns. It is obvious
that the production has its roots in that boom bap Hip Hop sound but, also has
an up-to-date edge that draws plenty of inspiration from other musical genres
to create exactly the mood needed at any one time. I liked the use of the
samples of the children at bedtime quizzing the parent. Their fears and
thoughts worked so well with the whole vibe of the album and gave it a deeper
little edge that just touched you enough, on an unconscious level, to make you
feel it on a personal level.
Overall, I would say that Flooded Hallways have done an
exceptional job with KURU. Not only have they brought the thoughts and feelings
of those lockdown times out of the mind and into musical form but, they have
added this metaphoric relationship with the title of the album that makes us
take a second look at every aspect of society and questioning what is really
going on. So, you might be left with more questions than answers but, is that
such a bad thing, because you can simply listen to the album again and get a
different angle on it all and it makes you wonder who is feeding on who and
what is the truth behind it all…
KURU is out now…
I’m outta here,
Steve
LINKS
Get your copy of KURU from Bandcamp Here:
https://floodedhallwaysofficial.bandcamp.com/album/kuru
VIDEO
Painstiller Official Video
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