KES releases new album

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Kes The Band teased on its Facebook page on August 1, saying, “We’ve got some news we think you’ll like! We will be dropping a live album and a live broadcast special very, very soon.”

It has since been revealed that the reigning joint Soca Monarch/Road March champions will release their first new full length album in over five years on August 28 with the live project We Home, a release said.

It is being released through Ineffable Music, an independent coalition of artists, managers, and promoters that curate music and live events across the world.

It was founded in 2006 and is based in Oakland, California.

Its website says it “advocates for artists to maintain ownership and control of their music, including through interest free loans given out by Ineffable’s charity arm, Rootfire Cooperative.

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“Ineffable works across the spectrum of the music business, producing over 2,000 concerts and festivals per year across the US, managing artists that have collectively sold millions of albums, releasing music in innovative ways and striving to disrupt the status quo in the music industry.”

The release said, “The band of brothers who captured the hearts of the masses and the two major titles last Carnival has breathed new life into its catalogue of Carnival hits (Hello, Savannah Grass,) and island pop jams on the new album, with fresh renditions showcasing their prowess as a live band par excellence.”

It added that singles from the project will be released weekly leading up to We Home’s release. It began with a remix of Magic featuring Jimmy October and Etienne Charles on August 7.

On August 31 Kes will present an hour long TV special called Kes Live airing on CCN TV 6 and which will also be aired in nine other Caribbean countries.

“The broadcast will also be simulcast in Africa on Trace TV; on Kes’ YouTube channel at youtube.com/keslive and across the band’s social media channels,” the release said. The album was mixed by engineer Dexter Simmons who has worked with artistes like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. It was announced in July that the band was now under the management of duo Damon DeGraff and Evan Vogel and that it would be releasing new content geared for a global audience. In a WhatsApp quote to Newsday, Vogel said, “The partnership with Ineffable Records for this live album gives us the platform to reach new audiences in a meaningful way.

“We feel soca deserves a wider audience and that Ineffable will help us move the genre forward.”

The release said the band’s new project represents the “first foray into soca and Trinidad by Ineffable Music – a multi-faceted, Oakland-based music company which owns and operates venues and festivals, including North America’s biggest reggae concert, Cali Roots Fest; and manages and releases music from artists like Stick Figure and Collie Buddz.

“It is also the first album by a major soca act on a US record label in over three years.”

The band said of We Home, “We finally get to release We Home, our first live studio album born out of a very extraordinary situation that forced all of us to stop and think about things in a different light. This period has given a lot of us the time to reconnect with our loved ones, take things slow, rest, recharge, innovate, be different.....be home.

“We miss the energy we get from you when we’re on stage and wanted to share the vibes we feel when we’re performing. We hope this album captures that feeling and gives us all something to look forward to when we could jam once more. We can’t wait for you to hear it!” ⁠

Adam Gross, VP of Ineffable Records said in the press release, “Since launching the label arm of Ineffable, Ineffable Records, one of our main objectives has been to bridge the gap between Caribbean-influenced music coming from the US and artists in the Caribbean.

“Our goal has been to take everything we’ve learned from growing artists here in the US to help artists from the Caribbean crossover into new markets. In soca music, and more specifically in Kes’ music, we see an opportunity to do just that. Kes is the full package. The melodies, the hooks, the top-notch musicianship, the live performance—everything is there.”

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