Kid Koala - Creatures of the Late Afternoon (2023) [Hi-Res]

Three decades into an unparalleled career, Kid Koala continues to grow his immersive this-dimensional real-life cartoon musical universe with each orbit around the sun. The world renowned DJ, composer, and lifelong visual storyteller also known as Eric San today announces his latest foray into the depths of “creating things to joyfully connect people.” Entitled Creatures Of The Late Afternoon, the new double album is the soundtrack to an accompanying board game centered around a cast of creatures who band together through the power of music to save their habitat from destruction. Built integrally into the vinyl gatefold jacket, the board game is set at a communal hub of DIY recording studios where various bands of creatures collaborate to explore different ways of expressing and enjoying music.

Creatures Of The Late Afternoon is what San calls “a journey through some of my favourite musical universes through the turntables.” What started as a testing ground for creating turntable tracks in different styles took shape as the score to an action film-inspired love story. The resulting album, a twenty-track two-disc set of instrumental jaunts, featured guest vocalists, and robot hotel interludes, Creatures Of The Late Afternoon furthers Kid Koala’s experimentation in electric, beat-driven, groove-laden, self-sampling, heartrending-even-if-its-heavy, purely beautiful music.

Leading up to the vinyl’s full release on April 14, 2023, Kid Koala will reveal the album in four stages. The first 7" vinyl EP is available for purchase today, along with the first single from the album, “Jump & Shuffle (Live At The Hardware Store)” – a classic Kid Koala track hearkening back to the infectious uprock atmosphere of the timeless “Skanky Panky” off Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs. Lead by layers of ensemble record scratching and warped whistle melodies, Kid Koala summons the creatures on this joyous and endlessly catchy strut in the late day sun.