City Freak by Postman
Vinyl release is scheduled for May 2020.
‘City Freak’ is the second studio album by recording artist Kostiantyn Pochtar, known as Postman. The record is due to be released digitally by the Kyiv music label WATRA on November 28, while the vinyl version is scheduled for spring 2020. This is his first album recorded with a band that takes him far beyond the boundaries of traditional guitar-lead folk music. The album consists of 5 songs in English, 3 tracks in Ukrainian, and one instrumental track.
For ‘City Freak’, Postman uses Hutsul folklore as a reference, as well as 60’s psychedelia, Ravi Shankar and Radiohead, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. All this made the album exceptionally diverse and complex, going from the austere 'Voda' born deep in the Carpathian Mountains to the acid-fused jam in 'True Detective'.
The centerpiece of the album is the protagonist’s relationship with the big city which attracts and repels him all at the same time. It cherishes stories about urban crazies, lost tourists, drug dealers and barflies, hitchhikers, prostitutes, people who look for truth, adventure, and real friends among them. ‘City Freak’ is the soundtrack to the eternal journey from town to town, from home to another hotel with paper-thin walls.
Kostiantyn: “A megapolis is like an ocean, it will always be stronger than you, no matter how hard you try to stem the tide and resist. The only way is to let it dissolve you, to be like water. You adapt to its whimsical forms and fill the graffiti-covered streets, walk through the dark downtown alleys without looking back; breath in the smell of wet asphalt with stars shining underneath. Or drop by your favourite bar at midnight only to hear bad music that for some reason plays several nights in a row. Taste the sky before the brightest Summer sunrise and then, without saying Goodbye, walk up the highest mountain, transform into a quick cold stream that flows towards the sea. On ‘City Freak’, I wanted to ruin the division between real and abstract”.
Tracklist
| 1. | The Strangest Place on Earth | 3:24 |
| 2. | Stars Beyond Us | 4:39 |
| 3. | Voda | 4:19 |
| 4. | Northern Light | 3:03 |
| 5. | Promised Land | 3:43 |
| 6. | Tam Niczoho Nema | 3:07 |
| 7. | The Wind in My Wings | 4:12 |
| 8. | Yakori / True Detective | 4:50 |
Credits
Released on WATRA. Cover by Andriy Boyar
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Vadyk Lazariev at Lipkyzvukozapys
Kostiantyn Pochtar - vocals, guitars, bass, piano
Oksana Sagalata - violin
Andriy Beat - drums (tracks 02, 04)
John Sleeper - bass (track 01), backing vocals (tracks 01, 05)
Semenchik Zapekanka - drums (track 05)
Oleg Skakun - flugelhorn (track 07)
Vadyk Lazariev - organ, drums (track 08)
2019, Kyiv, Ukraine
