Ukraine's Sherpa The Tiger release new album 'Ithkuil' in its entirety

Five years on from their 2018 debut album 'Great Vowel Shift', Lviv, Ukraine-based krautrock outfit Sherpa The Tiger are now returning with their long-awaited second album, 'Ithkuil'. Where their previous work was centred around vintage synths, minimal ambient and neon-lit kraut-disco grooves, ‘Ithkuil’ sees Sherpa The Tiger explore more expansive and layered structures and compositions – incorporating intricate guitars, flute, arpeggiators and jazzy piano references, alongside an array of other elements that originate from a broad spectrum of past and present music genres. Released digitally in its entirety today, you can stream the album below and pre-order the vinyl here. 

"This album bears the name of ‘Ithkuil’ for a reason", the band state: "Like the language we borrowed the title from, the sound of the record has a lot of levels, layers, and orchestral nuances. We consider this album and its pieces a single journey. Every track of the LP works as a mandatory stop for contemplation and reflection that happens on the route of the listener.” Sherpa The Tiger began working on the new material in 2019 during their EU live shows in support of ‘Great Vowel Shift’ and chalk the more textured and cinematic results down to a more collaborative approach.

“We wanted to rethink the Krautrock heritage explored on our last album and made a clear stylistic shift that was determined by a totally different approach to our music-making. The tunes on ‘Great Vowel Shift’ were cooked in a sort of live-looping mode with two musicians jamming. This time, with ‘Ithkuil’, the process of creation was shared among 4 musicians, and that approach had a great impact on the final result.”

Several years in the making and now released against a backdrop of war and invasion in their home country, ‘Sherpa The Tiger’ say ‘Ithkuil’ that acts as a poignant snap-shot of pre-war times: “Since the war caught us in the middle of planning the release as opposed to creating the music itself, the album can be perceived as a wistful reminder of the pre-war life that doesn’t seem to be coming back. The life we actually experienced but lost any recollection of and which we are desperately trying to bring back through the music created by the other us now dwelling in an absolutely different reality."