Sun Kil Moon & Amoeba new album release (USA/HUN)

Sun Kil Moon, otherwise known as Mark Kozelek, is one of the most important singer-songwriters of the past more than 30 years. Even his first serious line-up, Red House Painters, was considered one of the top alternative guitar bands of the ’90s, and the more folk-sounding and indie-folk albums he later released either alone or with other musicians under the name Sun Kil Moon (or under his own name) are also true masterpieces, so it was a great source of pleasure for us to have him include the House of Music on his tour in 2022 for what was naturally a memorable concert. Accompanying him on piano for some songs at the show was keyboardist Bencze Molnár, a collaboration that led to a joint recording with Molnár’s band, Amoeba, a pioneer in the Hungarian soul/funk/hip-hop scene. The first thing they did after the concert was start working on some songs together, resuming in the spring of 2023 and later on as well, and a few of these have already been issued. Coming out now is an entire joint album, for which this concert will serve as the record launch. 

Although Kozelek’s songs have evolved dramatically over the course of 30 years, their essence has remained virtually unchanged: strongly autobiographically inspired compositions delivered at a slow tempo but performed with magnetic power and structured to push the boundaries of the rock (or alternative or indie-rock) and acoustic singer/songwriter genres from the very beginning while also addressing themes that shift the personal towards the universal. In 2022, after a two year hiatus from performing live, the singer/guitarist gave a concert here at the House of Music, where he developed such excellent chemistry with the Hungarian musicians that the song recordings eventually developed into an entire joint album. This extensive concert will feature the newly released material, as well as Kozelek performing older compositions of his both as a soloist and with the accompanying musicians.

Amoeba

While it might be difficult to describe exactly what Amoeba is, it is certainly easier to enjoy what they do. Spanning genres, carefree, tasteful, profound and light-sounding all at the same time, the act has been in existence for 14 years and can, without exaggeration, safely be called one of the most exciting bands in Hungary. After starting out rooted in funk, soul, brokenbeat and hip-hop traditions, they aimed for the disco world with their second album. Their eclectic sound is hard to pin down, making it all the more fun. Its members are highly experienced musicians who have inscribed their names for all eternity in the musical history of the Budapest night with their various projects.

In Mindy, the first official joint Sun Kil Moon/Amoeba single, the addition of the Hungarian musicians give Kozelek a groovier sound than usual: