UK artist Black Market Karma and Ruari Meehan (Belakiss, Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe) present ‘Aping Flair’, the second single from the band’s eleventh full-length album ‘Friends In Noise’. An international collaboration rooted in friendship and spontaneity, the record will be released in mid-January via London boutique label Flower Power Records.
Hailing from London and now residing on the South coast of England, Black Market Karma revolves around songwriter Stanley Belton. Last month, he released the first single ‘The Sky Was All Diseased’, with iconic vocalist Tess Parks.
Ruari Meehan plays with Tess Parks’ band and contributed to her album with Anton Newcombe. He is also known as vocalist and guitarist of Belakiss, formed with Tatia Starkey (granddaughter of Ringo Starr). Apart from touring with Kasabian, they saw huge success in Japan, reaching number 1 in the international airplay chart with their hit ‘Only You’ and charting high in the official Japanese charts for several releases. Ruari is also a professional photographer and the son of Tony Meehan, drummer for iconic 60’s band The Shadows and a producer).
“The very first incarnation of this song came to life during a somewhat inebriated jam between Ruari Meehan and myself at my old studio. I threw a mic up quickly in the middle of the room just to capture the general essence of it for future reference. We were amped about the tune but life happened and for whatever reason it got shelved. I stumbled across it again years later and a vocal melody and lyrics came to me, real easy. It felt right so I got in touch with Ruari, he came to my studio and we got it down,” says Stanley Belton.
“As for the lyrics, you know those kind of people who enter a room, switch on their clout radar, scan for fame and then proceed to charm that person as hard as they can to further their career, while simultaneously dismissing anyone who they think doesn’t need to be bothered with? They’re about those kind of people”.
Black Market Karma offers a colourful carousel of jingle jangle and distorted wobble. With broader flavours of psychedelia, fuzzed out tones and thumping grooves, their thick and colourful sound is shaped by the use of a lot of vintage equipment. Rooted in 60’s guitar and pop music, other influences include folk, blues, lo-fi electronica, alt pop and soul.
Technically nine years in the making, ‘Friends In Noise’ is a series of collaborations between Black Market Karma and friends. Apart from Tess Parks, this album also involves The Underground Youth, Les Big Byrd / Joakim Ahlund, The Confederate Dead and Ruari Meehan. More recently, Stan has also been collaborating with Pete Kember (a.k.a. Sonic Boom) of Spacemen 3 fame on a forthcoming release.
Earlier this year, the band released the ‘Aped Flair & Hijacked Ideas’ LP, a loaded 11-track offering with a fluid texture of beach-soaked instrumentation. Themes ranging from the sycophantic circles that leach from the arts, desperately attempts to stay spiritually close to a distant love, Japanese folklore, and the deep connection between man and beast.
As of December 6, ‘Aping Flair’ will be available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. The full ‘Friends In Noise’ album (out January 13) can be ordered on 180-gram coloured vinyl from the label, as can their latest ‘Aped Flair & Hijacked Ideas’ LP.
