Celebrating their 10th anniversary, acoustic folk-rock band Kabaal klankbaan have released a brand new single entitled Not Tonight, Josephine. The single comes after the release of the B-Side to the single, The Flogsta Scream in the beginning of October 2020.
Representing the variety of life through sad-yet-upbeat songs whilst always having fun, Kabaal klankbaan’s music is mostly lyrically driven and bounces between heartfelt romanticism, melancholy, and a tongue-in-cheek outlook, and the energetic Not Tonight, Josephine is no exception.
The song itself dates back to around 2012-2013, with the title and refrain inspired by an idiom (usually, but probably incorrectly, attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Empress Joséphine). Not specifically inspired by relationships but rather the idea of situations where romantic desires aren’t always practical or logical; the single simultaneously describes a slightly tongue-in-cheek situation where you’re saying no to someone, but still are a little obsessed with them.
“It’s about accepting that things aren’t always as simple as they seem, and love stories don’t always have a happy ending. Because sometimes, despite your heart wanting to, your head knows that things aren’t meant to be. It’s also about rejection, but from the point of view of the person with the difficult job of doing the rejection.”
Floris Groenewald, Kabaal klankbaan frontman
Lyrically Not Tonight, Josephine features an imperfect, troubled love story without a happy ending, whilst musically being an upbeat, acoustic folk-rock song which represents a studio-polished version of what the band loves doing on stage. Longtime fans will recognise the song as something they have heard before in different iterations, and can look forward to the final definitive version as it was originally written.
“If you’ve ever been rejected, or even more so; if you’ve had to reject someone because you just aren’t a good fit, even though you really want to ignore logic and just enjoy it while it lasts, this song is for you.”
Buy/stream Not Tonight, Josephine on your favourite streaming platform or on Bandcamp.
