Manchester two-piece KYŌGEN announce their new single “Where There Is Sorrow There Is Holy Ground.” The self-released digital single was written, recorded and produced by KYŌGEN and will be available to stream via Bandcamp and Spotify on 28th July.
KYŌGEN is an experimental dream pop project from PINS bassist Kyoko Swan and producer Daniel Broomhall. Following on from their ‘I CRY’ EP (RAMBER RECORDS) release, “Where There Is Sorrow There Is Holy Ground” is a mix of swooning vocals, otherworldly guitars and restless urban beats. It takes the spirit of the White Hotel’s avant-garde scene and marries it with a timeless pop sensibility. Swan’s yearning poetry wraps a heartfelt package pitched somewhere between melancholia and a moonstruck soul.
A WORD ABOUT THE SONG FROM KYOKO:
“This song is being released after a really upsetting and challenging time in my life – although strangely it was written before it. Listening to the lyrics though, I do feel I was sensing something wasn’t right, before the wheels really came off. The title is an Oscar Wilde quote from De Profundis, the long letter he wrote from Reading Gaol. He said that where there is sorrow there is holy ground, and some day people will realise what that means, but until then they will know nothing of life. I don’t wish to be as dramatic as that or celebrate suffering as if it is somehow deeper than other feelings, or more noble, but there is power in suffering. At least, when we can look back upon it and realise it didn’t manage to swallow us up whole.
I think this song is about being a bit of a lost soul in a way, and the ways we search to get out of ourselves, whether that be through art, or drink and drugs, or finding love in the wrong places. Maybe just ignoring our discomfort by pretending everything is ok. I hope those who listen to it find that it speaks to them somehow, even perhaps just in a very small way.”
Listen to ‘Where There Is Sorrow There Is Holy Ground’ – BELOW:
KYŌGEN’s I CRY ep was released on cassette via Manchester’s RAMBER RECORDS (ramberrecords.com), along with a split EP on the same label with Manchester band MONK.
KYŌGEN are currently unsigned and interested in speaking to labels about an album release.
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