Music / kid carpet
‘Witchdoctor of Wonk’ returns with first single in 15 years
Punk rock theatre maker Kid Carpet is returning to music, ‘the artform he loves the most,’ releasing his first single in 15 years on Friday.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is a minute-and-a-half of Kid’s characteristic bouncy, lo-fi off-the-wall style with a catchy chorus and hand-drawn accompanying video. The track was inspired by a true story, as Kid told Bristol247:
“It’s based on an experience I had at a 13 week Job Seekers Allowance interview back in the day. When asked to widen my job search I said I could look for Art jobs. ‘That’s not a job,’ he said.
is needed now More than ever
“Ok, Art Teacher then. The dole office worker took down their big black book of doley jobs – this was a long time ago when the world wasn’t all online – and started flipping through the pages. A….. Art…..Archbishop! I saw it there on the page. Can I do that, I asked?”
It’s nervewracking making a return after so many years away:
“With this new album I feel like I’m taking a huge leap knowing full well that I’m destined to end up in the sea,” admitted Kid.
His return to music has been delayed by the pandemic, near death experiences and bringing up children, but Kid is now ready to send his latest wild creation, a record that he says lurches “from simple piano and vocal songs to screaming metal insanity, big beat head-nodding grooves and 80s pop to rubber band instruments and manipulated water sounds,” out into the world.
Kid Carpet’s first release since 2008, Icarus D’Icarus is further described as “melancholy and sincerely fun medicine from a witchdoctor of wonky, leftfield, downtempo, indie synth-pop.”
Kid Carpet in punk-rock theatre mode – he describes his shows as ‘disruptively charming’ – credit: Big Little Gigs
Fans were given a sneak preview of the album after Kid accidentally hit release over a month before its official due date.
“The accidental release was great. It’s like I have my dad running my promo for me,” he said.
“I sold a copy! I got in touch with the buyer to congratulate them on being the first owner of the new album and assumed it’d be a pre-sale type of situation. But they said that, yeah, they could download it straight away,” he said.
“So I unreleased it, apologised to my customer and asked them not to flog it down the market. They promised not to listen to it until release day proper. I believe them.”
For those that missed the hiccough, Kid promises the record will be “stupendous” and full of “angry and joyful punky poppy bangers.”
Main image: Matt Smith
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