Exotica Song Of The Month: February 2012
Lemon Jelly
Kneel Before Your God
2000
Lemon Jelly is the British Electronic music project of Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen, currently on hiatus. Between 1999 and 2001 the pair released three highly sought after EPs on vinyl that are collected altogether on their first album lemonjelly.ky depicted above. The duo is recognized for two things: the creation of gorgeous artwork from the mind of Fred Deakin and their knowledge of several music styles taken from their collection of thousands of records over the year and their ability to weave weird samples and entire portions of songs into their original creations, a famous example being the perfect blending of Bert Kaempfert's Tahitian Sunset on their track In The Bath that is also featured on lemonjelly.ky. However, the most Exotica-related tune on this album surely is Kneel Before Your God, featured first on their limited 7" The Midnight EP. This song was also featured on the original soundtrack of the 2001 movie Swordfish, albeit in an edited, sped-up mix as it is often the case in movies.
The 8-minute song creates the mysterious aura of an oriental setting and starts with a short burst of electronic strings followed by a bongo solo that gets more intense and is then involved in a battle with hectic claves. As the introduction ends, an acoustic guitar and vibe swirls mark the beginning of the song. Mean laughter is added occasionally which is later morphed and choked via scratches, a typical stylistic element found in most of the early Lemon Jelly songs (though not used as massively as by bands like The Propellerheads for instance). The mood doesn't change throughout the song. Stylistically, it is similar to The Karminsky Experience's Behind The Bamboo Curtain. It is neither a jolly nor a melancholic song but a song of mystery and uncertainty, a rare mood which is not often found in Lemon Jelly's catalog.
Although electronic by nature, the song absolutely resembles the mood and style of modern acoustic Exotica songs due to the use of the same ingredients and typical instruments. If you don't mind the vinyl scratching noises and are up for an orientally flavored journey, go get this song (and consider listening to In The Bath as well if you are a fan of Bert Kaempfert's Easy Listening LPs). Collector‘s notice: lemonjelly.ky is also available on beautiful packaged vinyl. Only 1000 copies were made and are highly sought after, if only for the gorgeous artwork that is all the more mesmerizing in 12" size. In any case, the quality of the music matches the beauty of the artwork.
Exotica Song Of The Month Review for February 2012: Lemon Jelly – Kneel Before Your God (2000). Originally published on Feb. 2, 2012 at AmbientExotica.com.