Cosuin Kula - Vitamin D LP [Rhythm Section International]

Feeling like the first ray of sunshine after a long winter, Cousin Kula sound instantly recognisable yet gloriously renewed on their second album 'Vitamin D'. If their debut album 'Double Dinners' was the soundtrack to your heartbreak, then this is the sound of falling back in love. Even the tracklist titles - 'Clothes Off', 'Staying With You', 'Good Feeling' - boldly mark the coordinates for this new body of work. From the initial wash of burning synth chords, the pulsating bass, the wailing guitar lines and the whispered flutes, it’s abundantly clear that this is a feel-good album. Label boss Bradley Zero exclaims, "I think it’s fair to say the band have collectively shaken off the cobwebs and are ready for a summer of love!".
Singer Elliot Ellison explains, "We really wanted this album to be playful and fun, not taking itself too seriously. For it to be representative of us as a group and the energy we have when we're just enjoying ourselves, so that that's something you feel in the music too. Lyrically it spans a lot of topics but especially leans into the 'Happy Love Songs', which feels like a new venture for us."

'Vitamin D' is for lovers, but it's also for dancers. Cousin Kula have expanded their vocabulary but also learned when to simply get out of the way of the groove. Funk and disco have permeated their psychedelic indie-soul sound and it's all the better for it. A quintet of virtuosic musicians, flexing when necessary but more often stripping it all back and luxuriating in the rhythm. It's a rare case of perfect thematic and musical synergy. Elliot continues, "We explored more instrumentation on this album and stretched previously underutilised corners of our ability. Will and Elliot play trombone and trumpet on some tunes, Doug plays flute all over the album (and weirdly, no saxophone!), and there’s a lot more percussion. It's been fun to experiment with the vocals on this album too, we wanted to really lean into the 'weird'. Likewise with the vocal harmonies, we wanted to make that even more prominent on this album, as if we got a bit more BeeGees style sensual." Living together, tucked away in the sun-drenched hills outside Bristol, Cousin Kula released their first full-length album 'Double Dinners' on Rhythm Section Intl. in 2021. The album received praise from BBC 6 Music, Boiler Room, Clash, Crack, and The Guardian amongst others, and saw the band tour the UK with Mildlife in addition to their own incessant live adventures.