Hunted Women was written over the course of several years, with some of the earliest songs (‘Hunted Woman’ and ‘I Want You To Be Me For A Bit’) written around 2010, and the last song (‘Raise A Glass’) written in 2019. The EP is self produced by frontman Floris Groenewald with the main band being Hewie Becker on bass, Tebatso Rampedi on drums, and Nina Kajee providing backing vocals.
Floris describes the inspiration for the EP as mainly relationships and encounters that he has had with women in the past, as well as direct influences from a Sin City graphic novel (Hell and Back), a Swedish romantic vampire movie (Let The Right One In), and an often-covered voodoo-blues song ‘I Put A Spell On You’, originally by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. During the process of assembling these songs into an EP, a theme of ‘emotional baggage’ also emerged, acknowledging that everyone has a past, and probably something they’re running from. Musically, inspiration was taken from everything from Blues and Indie Rock, Gospel and film soundtracks.
Drums for the EP were recorded at High Seas Studios during 2020, and production mostly happened in his bedroom studio in Pretoria, with some guest appearances done remotely via the internet (guitar solo on ‘Roxanne’ by Jono Tait in Cape Town, and lead vocals on ‘Hopes’ by Anne-Marie Mailovich at The AudioStocracy in Stellenbosch). The EP was mixed by Louise Eksteen at The Backline, and mastered by Peach van Pletzen at Planet Awesome.
“The title of the EP is based on the song title ‘Hunted Woman’, but it feels like each song could be the story of a different woman – each of them hunted or haunted by something, whether a man, the past, their own fears & flaws, etc – all obviously and unavoidably from a male perspective.“
FLORIS GROENEWALD, FRONTMAN
HUNTED WOMEN is an electric guitar-driven shade of full-band folk-rock, with hints of bluesy and gospel influences, about people who are trying to escape the ghosts of the past. The band sees it as a nice middle ground between what’s come before and some experimenting with new directions. It features the most prominent use of electric guitars so far in KABAAL KLANKBAAN’s discography, but doesn’t stray so far away to alienate or confuse anyone – expanding, but not contradicting what’s come before.
Tracks:
1. Raise a Glass
2. I Want You To Be Me For A Bit
3. Jannie Totsiens
4. I’m Possessed!
5. Roxanne
6. Hunted Woman
7. Fears
8. Hopes
Cover art by Ale & Cake Illustration.
Listen to Hunted Women on your favourite streaming platform, but also check out its sister release, Ek en Jy (is lank reeds verby).
