more from
Polyvinyl Records
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Time ‘n’ Place

by Kero Kero Bonito

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Time ‘n’ Place via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $23 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Time ‘n’ Place via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Time ‘n’ Place via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
Outside 01:51
I think I smell the rain again I see the leaves getting dewy They're breathing Fresh air awakens everything While the winds are barging through They greet you Outside here Like any other morning Landing on cue I hear the drizzle drumming down And then I realise in all of my life I don't think that I Remember it being So vivid One two three four five six miles away I wonder if they notice over there? Until the light Throws colours across the vista Piling so high they reach out of sight To heaven
2.
Time Today 02:11
I got so much time today I got hopes and dreams and plans all yet to be made So get out the way 'Cos I'm coming through now I got something to do And I'll try As I might To keep up with the light 'Til I'm into bed for the night I got so much more to say I got books and tapes and canvas bearing the weight But they're not arranged 'Cos it takes too long and I'm still moving on But I don't Even know Where I should be trying to go So I guess I'll follow my nose And I can't help but think about If the sun ever stays down Will I notice or will I Just be sitting around Ticking a list off Rueing what I said wrong But dawn still greets my windowpanes And as long as I shall Wake up in the morning I got plans I got so much time today I got so much time today I got so much time today I got so much time
3.
Only Acting 03:49
When I step onto the stage See the curtain raise I'm apparent I've got someone to play All the crowd are in the seats Looking straight at me For an answer They just get what they see They applaud and the usher's locking the door 'Til the matinee So I get to know the cast Though it doesn't last I'm a pro but I won't take it too far Now I know I shouldn't get Comfy on the set Every time it All comes down in the end That's a truth that the stage school doesn't teach you But it's good to know It takes much more than just learning a script You see you gotta take the part and believe it Oh-I sometimes make up all of my lines on the spot But I will always give what I got I thought I was only acting But I felt exactly like it was all for real I sure didn't know it hurt so But then no rehearsal could Show you how to feel inside What you gotta hide Where to put your pride When to realise you've had your time Find another role Carry on the show You should be able to feel a performance With your whole body and soul Now I'm going to teach you everything I know And you and you and you and you and you Oh-I sometimes make up all of my lines on the spot But I will always give what I got I thought I was only acting But I felt exactly like it was all for real I sure didn't know it hurt so But then no rehearsal could Show you how to feel inside What you gotta hide Where to put your pride When to realise you've had your time Find another role Carry on the show I thought I was only acting But I felt exacexacexacexacexa What you gotta hide How to feel inside What you gotta hide
4.
Flyway 01:58 video
A flock across my window Gone when I look around Until the sun gets longer They're getting out of town Where on earth in the world Do they go? Do their feathers freeze stiff In the snow? How should I know? But I can bet you they'll come Back to the same old tree Since I was crawling they've been Watching over me In the gardens That ripple in the water Climbing higher up Where nobody sees Look at the sky and spot the green And I heard that they weren't Meant to stay Anywhere the air chokes Or they get On the flyway So ride the rising currents I trust that I will see you again When I pick up the courage I hope that I can join you someday
5.
Dump 03:01
Show the man a pass and Everything you've got Go to where he points and Throw it all on top Hear the crunching beneath of junk let go A parrot cage and dial phones Blue for small electrics Microwaves in here Television pieces In a rusty skip But be careful if you brought chemicals They've got a place especially for those And there's always a busy crowd around People come from all over town (over town) Dropping off the things that they no longer need to keep Everybody's collage Stacking up the wall When the sun is out the Scent gets pretty tall But the site operators don't care much They're looking forward to their lunch And when we fill it up A lorry comes and drags it on the tarmac Somewhere far from here So when they let us in At six a.m. The spaces are empty again And there's always a busy crowd around People come from all over town (over town) Dropping off the things that they no longer need to keep
6.
I set a watch For five o' clock I think of trees and rivers As I'm drifting off I pinch my wrist (Just to tell where I am) I get a twinge (Seems as real as it can) But I remain and so I know The rest is up to me At night The sunlight beats upon my skin In here I see everything And until the morning comes I feel it All my life I tried To find the time to make believe But now as certain as the seasons I know real life will get in between If I never get To decide my reality At least I see how it could be When I get round to sleeping (sleeping) Dreaming (dreaming) Works for me And though my soul (Lets me do what I want) Is pretty bold (In a place I belong) From time to time my grip'll slip And I just lose control Then awake I freeze But nothing in my head can hurt me However real it seems All my life I tried To find the time to make believe But now as certain as the seasons I know real life will get in between If I never get To decide my reality At least I see how it could be When I get round to sleeping (sleeping) Dreaming (dreaming) Get round to sleeping (sleeping) Dreaming (dreaming) Oh
7.
Dear future self it's me again The girl you buried way back when I see you gave in to curiosity My life right now is going well I've time to spare as one can tell But you might just sense some trepidation too No-one knows where they really want to go Why we always stay inside and now it snows But I bet you miss it all so Do cars ever fly? Have you travelled time? Or is it just the same old thing for you and I? I used to be fine because you Always seemed so far away But now I feel our paths getting closer each day You'll find enclosed a passport photograph The headlines and a railcard It's funny how physical us humans are Ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh But I heard all the years'll leave you hurt Everyone you love disappears and nothing works Please don't say you hate the world I hope that I won't Do cars ever fly? Have you travelled time? Or is it just the same old thing for you and I? I used to be fine because you Always seemed so far away But now I feel our paths getting closer each day It's rather strange
8.
Hi it's me how are you is the food OK? Did you order the usual or something else? I remember you said you were after yoghurt so I bought two Let's draw the curtains back to bring in the light Press the button so that you're sitting right All the people that I spoke to said They think you're doing great Back home they're all asking They wanna come and see you real soon We're all really missing you But please Take the time you need Ooh-ooh-ooh I've been thinking about you coming home I was asking them when but they don't know We can order a taxi on the day All the way Is that the time I should let you go to bed Brush your teeth take it easy get some rest I'll be back here again tomorrow morning I'll see you then night night
9.
If I'd Known 02:43
Looking back I ponder all the possibilities That I had sat right in front of me Every one an optional decision giving birth To a dedicated universe Only if I'd known long ago That a choice will grow Into another road But I heard that every single version of events Will occur whatever we expect And as such I really needn't worry very much 'Cos I feel all worlds at once Only if I'd known long ago Space is ours to roam If you can find your own Reality proves me It goes pretty smoothly But I haven't found the meaning Quite yet Only if I'd known long ago That a choice will grow Into another road Only if I'd known long ago Space is ours to roam If you can find your own Who tore the sky? Who copied me? Water going back on itself up to the sea Is that a whole world talking From just behind a ceiling? Watch me get my two time lines Not going through the door all alone I'll leave something on the side So you know I said hello
10.
Sometimes 02:01
Sometimes life gets you down But you can turn it all around The raindrops keep falling You're soaking to the bone And you can't see for the clouds Sometimes life isn't fair But you can beat it don't despair You win some you lose some And then you lose some more You even played your best But just round the corner The sun's looking dapper And lady luck's his date The happy days are coming again Sometimes life is a drag But get that chin up don't be sad 'Cos somebody up there Is looking out for you And now they're making plans But just round the corner Well the real truth of it's that Nobody really knows Life sure doesn't make sense But on your boots you can bet That everybody gets the blues Sometimes
11.
Swimming 03:19
I was treading on the beach Summer underneath my feet Somewhere I'd never seen Mama led me by the hand 'Til the grit stuck with the damp And the foam fizzed adrift When we both strode in I could feel the detritus lifting And I moved like I knew that I was free again Then before thinking I ventured out Swimming Across the sea The current battles way down below me Drifting But holding on I keep my head up to watch the shore After many years had passed Hoping I would find the path I arrived at the start In the shadow of a cliff Memories floating in the wind I squared up to the tide On my own this time I could feel the detritus lifting While a teardrop tickled as it ran away But it got lost in the wash I tossed Swimming Across the sea I get the feeling I always have been Swimming Across the sea The current battles way down below me Drifting But holding on I keep my head up to watch the shore Swimming Swimming
12.
Rest Stop 03:22
Over the sunset At the edge of the atlas I'm driving alone When I see in the distance A light in the dark And when I approach it A note on the glass We're serving Inside it's quiet But the tables are shining In blue chrome and white With a fan on above but No service in sight I pick out a booth Sliding in from the side And then I start feeling quite tired So I know That I'll be here a little while When I go I'll get right back on the road Let everybody come together The world at peace as one We could live a dream forever It's really up to us And if you're not sure how to start Then open up your heart Let the feeling grow And soon you're sure to know Light up light up The whole night sky with all your love Just say the prayer We'll make it there If we work hard enough Keep on keep on And give it everything you've got 'Cos only then We'll reach the end The land where we belong So when we walk among the clouds Hold your neighbour close As the trumpets echo round You don't wanna be a

about

The sophomore full-length from Kero Kero Bonito, Time ‘n’ Place is an album ineffably shaped by the subconscious. Lead singer and chief lyricist Sarah Bonito (who was raised in the suburbs on the Japanese island Hokkaido) found herself rattled in recent years by recurring images in her dreams: a water park from when she was little, a hallway in her primary school. After those dreams started, she also received an unexpected photo from her brother: a picture of a plot of bare land that once held her childhood home, the house now demolished. (“I felt like I’d lost something, even though I didn’t know I needed it,” she says.) And in another heartbreak for Sarah, 2017 saw the death of her beloved childhood pet, a boy budgie named Nana whom she received soon after moving to the UK at age 13.

At the same time, Sarah’s fellow KKB members experienced some life-changing upheaval, including the loss of several close family members. So when the London trio began writing again, they felt compelled to diverge from the carefree sensibilities of their early work (a form of kitsch electro-pop that jumbled up lo-fi dance music with bilingual lyrics, British TV references, and stories about animals). Resuming a very teenage and visceral approach to making music, KKB effectively morphed into a band, with Sarah on vocals, Jamie on bass, Gus on drums, and their friend James Rowland on guitar. Their debut for Polyvinyl, Time ‘n’ Place is a document of that band finding its voice, a coming-of-age story told in warped guitar solos, shining melodies, unnervingly tender lyrics about yogurt and seafoam and feral parakeets.

Though much of Time ‘n’ Place was self-produced in Gus’s bedroom in the London suburb of Bromley, it was also partly recorded by Jimmy Robertson (Arctic Monkeys, Fuck Buttons) and Stereolab drummer Andy Ramsay (King Krule, Wire) at Ramsay’s Press Play Studio in South London. Along with Rowland, the album features contributions from noise/electronic musician Jennifer Walton, a string arrangement by composer Calum Bowen (aka bo en), and a three-part choir made up of Cecile Believe, Oscar Scheller, and Crying’s z (aka Elaiza Santos). Built on the same volatile energy that’s made KKB’s live shows famously mosh-heavy, Time ‘n’ Place collages those elements together in a sound that’s both chaotic as punk and symphonic as ’60s pop.

For KKB the urgency of Time ‘n’ Place was imperative—they needed to process their pain and confusion in frantic, kinetic movements, and bashing away on drums and guitars felt more fitting than assembling songs on a laptop. It’s also much more true to their upbringing as musicians, back when Gus and Jamie were growing up in the South London suburbs and played in garage bands together all during their school days. With the added vision and otherworldly voice of Sarah—who spent her adolescence in the UK town of Kenilworth, and met Gus and Jamie on a web forum five years ago—the classically dissident music of their indie-rock forebears takes on weirder and more wonderful textures and colors, giving way to something dreamy and transcendent but not without its nightmare moments.

While loss of innocence is an overriding theme on Time ‘n’ Place, the album is weighted with existential reflections of all kinds. “Make Believe” is partly about lucid dreaming, but it’s also about self-inflicted anxiety, and the danger in slipping into fantasy as a way to escape fear. “Time Today” is about waking up early and feeling determined to make the most of the day, and the sad/sweet naïveté of that optimism in the face of self-sabotage. “Only Acting” follows a social-media-age identity crisis, the song itself coming unhinged as its narrator spins out of control. And on “Dear Future Self,” KKB examine their worries about the state of the world, bending time by including a line about global warming in a song styled toward Brill Building pop.

Elsewhere on Time ‘n’ Place, KKB look into multiverse theory (on “If I’d Known,” a Randy Newman-inspired song featuring a verse rapped by Jamie) and the shift in perspective that comes with getting older (on “Swimming,” a bittersweet tribute to singer-songwriter Yumi Matsutoya). Recorded with a gang of their dearest friends, all singing together in a ragtag chorus, “Sometimes” is a tear-jerkingly hopeful song about pushing through depression. An album concerned with the sanctity of physical space in an increasingly virtual world, Time ‘n’ Place also speaks to the thrill of going outside (on “Outside”), the tranquility of the town dump (on “Dump”), and the surreal stillness of a deserted rest stop (on “Rest Stop,” a track that finishes the album in a beautifully glitched-out non-ending).

Within the cartography of Time ‘n’ Place, the most important space is the suburbs, an aspect of their shared past that KKB find infinitely formative. As kids, each member quickly learned the need to invent their own wildness and excitement, embracing misfit status in a place where any form of self-expression could be seen as aberrant. That iconoclastic spirit has carried over to KKB’s current role in the musical landscape, with Time ‘n’ Place partly conceived as a reaction against the sterility of playlist culture. It’s a sublimely untidy album, anarchic but balletic in grace, music born from willful imagination and a sense of purpose best captured in the band’s own words: “More than ever music needs to be set free, because it can be anything, so we just decided to do whatever the fuck we wanted.”

credits

released October 1, 2018

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Kero Kero Bonito London, UK

KKB = Sarah + Gus + Jamie

contact / help

Contact Kero Kero Bonito

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Time ‘n’ Place, you may also like: