Cari Cari - Welcome To Kookoo Island EP (2022)

Today Cari Cari have shared new psychedelic disco single, ‘No Proper Life’. The release comes alongside news that the duo are set to release their new album Welcome To Kookoo Island on September 16th, 2022 via Perla Nera Records.

Recorded at their studio, located in an Austrian national park in 2020 and 2021, the band’s second album is a slice of psychedelic escapism. Lead single ‘No Proper Life’ started off as a White Stripes-esque blues rock jam which immersed itself into an upbeat, psychedelic number with a thumping bassline and Roger McGuinn-y 12-string guitar riffs. The track is about having the urge to avoid a ‘proper life’: “proper job, proper friends, proper hobbies and living your life for someone else instead of daring to go your own way. No one’s better at being yourself than you are.” adds guitarist Alexander Koeck.

Accompanying video for ‘No Proper Life’ was illustrated by Kane Rowlingson. The band on the video: “Sometimes if you wanna live an improper life you gotta be as stubborn as a donkey. Follow our mascot Donny the donkey on his way past the temptations of a proper life”

Cari Cari is Stephanie Widmer (vocals, drums & didgeridoo) and Alexander Koeck (vocals, guitars). Since their inception, Cari Cari have been tirelessly working to create their own world, carefully crafting everything from their music to their artwork, videos to set design in-house. This meticulous attention to detail has earned the band a loyal following; Rolling Stone Magazine called them ‘the biggest discovery of Primavera Sound Festival’, their die-hard fans sold out 1000+ capacity rooms across Europe and their debut album was praised by the likes of NME, KCRW, Rolling Stone, IndieShuffle and many more.

However, for the band, all roads have led them to Kookoo Island. The product of years of world-building, Welcome To Kookoo Island, was born from a desire to retreat from modern-day life completely. “Kookoo Island is our libertatia, the utopia of what we think the world should be like,” explains Widmer. “It seems to be cuckoo to dream of such a place right now, but dreaming of what we want the world to be like is the first step towards making it a reality,” she continues.

For their version of Utopia, the pair took inspiration from a plethora of cultural touchstones, ranging from Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom to Hermann Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf, the 17th century pirate colony ‘Liberatia’ to the volcanic landscape of the Canary Islands. On Kookoo Island there are no jobs or responsibilities, just long sunsets, winding rivers and child-like exploration.

Cinematic is a word that is often used to describe the music that Cari Cari makes, which is unsurprising given their origin story. Both cinephiles, the pair grew up listening to film-scores, particularly favouring the work of Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

“We make music the way Tarantino makes films, in fact that was the reason we became a band. To make music that could be featured in a Tarantino movie,” laughs Widmer. “Our way of knowing if a song is finished is if it gives us an idea for a music video and we can picture the visuals in our head,” Koeck continues. “Wes Anderson soundtracks were a big inspiration for this album. He also has an over-stylized approach when making his films. You could say if our debut was our Tarantino album, then this is our Wes Anderson album.”