Taking a swipe at masculinity, the new video from Ulrika Spacek is based on ‘70s cooking programmes & the famous chef, Fanny Craddock. The London-based group are set to release their new album on June 2nd via Tough Love Records. Today the band are sharing a new video for their recent single 'Full of Men'. They are set to play a headline London show at The Lexington on June 14th as well as various other UK shows this June.

Directed by Kyle Macfadzean, vocalist Rhys E explains the concept of the video: "The story behind this video started with finding an old ‘70s Greek cookbook when I was in Athens. One night for some reason Rhys W and I were watching old ‘70s cooking programmes on the internet with a disillusioned chef and we came across a woman called Fanny Craddock, this became one of the references for the video."

"This song is a swipe at masculinity and we were going to make a video quite literally full of men but we didn't want to make something too obvious so ended up flipping the idea to play on the traditional female/housewife gender role in the setting of a cookery show, cutting up quite phallic things whilst under the male gaze of a camera man."

Modern English Decoration is, in part, a self-effacing play on an interior design cliché that references the meticulous creative processes the band adheres to. There’s also a nod towards the environment in which it was created – a Victorian house turned art gallery turned home studio. "This record was made in various rooms in our house, predominantly in the living room. Every part of the album reflects this, from the title to the setting of the lyrics. Doing everything ourselves is not just necessary: it’s important to us, as it allows us to truly create our own world”. While there’s an element of domesticity to the album’s creation, the themes that drive the songs are anything but, reflecting an all-too-common sense of mid-twenties alienation and anxiety, alongside the comforts/burdens of self-awareness. 

After recently supporting Slowdive & Wire on UK dates, Ulrika Spacek will be playing the following shows:

May 16th - Nuits Botanique, Brussels, Belgium

June 2nd - 02 Academy, Oxford, UK w/Slowdive

June 6th - Rough Trade instore, Nottingham, UK

June 8th - Rise Music instore, Bristol, UK

June 14th - The Lexington, London UK

August 20th - Doune the Rabbit Hole, Doune, UK 

August 27th - This Must Be The Place, Leeds, UK

Hailing from Seattle and first coming to prominence as the singer for New York electronic rock outfit Jupiter One, Kishi Bashi (the alias of Kauru Ishibashi) soon became an in-demand violinist, touring with the likes of Regina Spektor, Sondre Leche and Of Montreal, before embarking on a successful solo career. Sonderlust - Kishi Bashi’s third release to date - emerged as the result of personal struggles and creative road blocks.

Speaking about the challenges which informed the arrival of Sonderlust, Kishi Bashi notes that these new songs emerged neither in the manner or pace he’d come to expect. “As I sat down to write songs last summer, I went to all my usual conduits of creation: violin loops, guitar, piano, and I came up with the musical equivalent of fumes. I tried to create orchestral pop recordings that I assumed were my forte, and in turn, I found myself standing in front of a creative wall of frightening heights.” This uncertainty, compounded by significant upheavals in his personal life, led Ishibashi to experiment with a new musical direction, one which required him to dig deeply into his own experiences. “I questioned everything about what it means to love and desire” Kishi admits; “The difference between loving someone and being in love.”

Sonderlust itself takes its name from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows’ definition of ‘sonder’: “The realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own… an epic story that continues invisibly around you, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed… in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background or as a blur of traffic passing on the highway.”

UK Headline Tour Dates

12 May MANCHESTER Soup Kitchen

13 May BRISTOL Louisiana

14 May LONDON Oslo 

15 May BRIGHTON The Hope & Ruin