Gaika - War Island OST

The Spectacular Empire

£21.58

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: TSE1LP
Barcode: 04062548038873
Release Date: 29 Apr 2022
Genre: Soundtrack

War island OST is the soundtrack to this complex and wide ranging anthology of artwork by the multidisciplinary artist GAIKA.

It is a concept piece to be released as an international collaboration between GAIKA’s own label TSE, NAAFI from Mexico City and, SVBCVLT from Shanghai.

The soundtrack was installed at the ICA in London as a part room-sized audio visual environment and will be released with a limited edition album & artbook on April 29th 2022.

At the time of increasing British isolation and political failure, GAIKA, the perennial internationalist, has turned the focus of his analytical lyrical approach directly to the place of his birth.

Gone are the dancehall inflections and infectious rhythms of his Caribbean heritage. Instead the focus is on London in 2022, a sprawling megacity city he poetically deconstructs with dense southside storytelling. The lyrics are set against futuristic urban production.

The results are cinematic salvos from the global underground that demand investigation.

According to GAIKA London is cruddy as hell and everyone is a little drunk. Lyrically War Island is GAIKA’S attempt to analyze Britain's current geopolitical position in familiar terms. In It he considers the nation's capital by means of a conceptual construction he calls “The Good Ship Prosperity”.

It is a fictional public house that for him symbolizes the nexus of a multitude of thematic or emotive strands - class struggle, crime and punishment, migration and the politics of the built environment. From this position War Island OST is the story of a braggadocious gravelthroated drinker lost in former glories and failed romances. The lastman in this pub telling anyone who will listen tales from another time, oblivious to his own demise.

War Island OST, like the country it chooses to satirize in its title , is a concept record bereft of moral compass in its leadership. GAIKA deliberately makes no direct philosophical musings in this record . Instead its message is delivered matter of factly, often floating somewhere between spoken word, song, poetry and road rap delivery.

Touching moments are offset with bleak punchlines that leave little prisoners. By turns downtempo and decidedly industrial and by others anthemic soaring with fragile gothic beauty, The atmospheric soundtrack is a succinct demonstration of artists' sometimes contradictory aesthetic andtestament to the collaborative nature of the work. Listened to in isolation War Island OST is an urban mixtape from the future, familiar yet somehow alien, hard yet intricate and emotive.

Each song is structural and deliberate in nature, emotive pieces with a host of collaborators between London, Manchester, Mexico city and Shanghai are poignant personal assessments of matters of power wealth and class in British Society and how these matter relate to the rest of the world.

- First full-length physical release on Gaika’s Spectacular Empire label.
- Part of a wider anthology project that includes and art installation at London’s ICA, a sample pack inspired by the album released with spitfire audio and an upcoming art book.

TRACKLISTING
A1 Intro
A2 Southland Bezel
A3 Omens
A4 Small Skies
A5 Gladius
A6 Pinky Gem Familia
A7 Voicest
B1 Crookz & Moet
B2 Zatoichi
B3 Eternal Tears
B4 The Circle
B5 Q Et
B6 Trim Outro