Kahn Morbee Image via Facebook Kahn Morbee
Scarecrows and COVID: Khan Morbee digs deep on his new album [listen]
Kahn Morbee uses scarecrows as a metaphor for COVID-19 in the lead single for his new album, ‘A World at Suicide’.
Kahn Morbee Image via Facebook Kahn Morbee
The Parlotones frontman Khan Morbee is an exceptional musician who has contributed immensely to the success of the rock genre in South Africa. Morbee released his third solo album, A World at Suicide on 23 September and explained that the album was due for release last year but with some time on his hands due to the COVID-19 lockdown, he began “fiddling” with the album.
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KHAN MORBEE’S ‘A WORLD AT SUICIDE’
Khan Morbee shared with IOL that his 12-track album A World at Suicide was ready to be released in March last year. His initial plan was to release the album and tour in June/July but unfortunately for him, the COVID-19 pandemic came in the way.
He “parked” the album and while he had some time on his hands, he began “fiddling” with it and he realised one thing.
“While ‘fiddling’ I realised that the album lacked a cohesive thread, something that glued it all together so that the listener would know that there was a certain ‘something’ that gave the songs a collective personality.”
KHAN MORBEE’S INSPIRATIONS
The 43-year-old musician passionately noted that breathing does not inspire him because it’s automatic and necessary for his survival. He continued to speak deeply about his inspirations.
“I guess I’m inspired that I innately have the tools to create something out of nothing and still derive immense joy from the process. If inspiration is framed as subject matter then it’s always about the human journey, experiential and observational.”
Morbee described the sound of his album as: “A Beatles vinyl left on top of a Fleetwood Mac vinyl left top of a R.E.M vinyl left in the boot of 1970’s split-window VW kombi.”
“There’s an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a vintage mic and a trashy vocoder on the back seat.”
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SCARECROWS AND COVID-19 LOCKDOWN
In the lead single from the album, titled All the Beauty, Morbee changed the original lyrics to reflect the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lyrics of the song read: “There’s a scarecrow standing in the middle of the street. Everyone’s playing hide-and-seek. Every day seems exactly the same.”
He explained that the gist of the song is accepting that life is a series of ups and downs despite the hurdles we face. “The experience of life itself is a beautiful one,” he said.
