Kainalu (album release), Javier Reyes, The Earthlings

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Julianna Photography

A person sits on a sandy beach.

Kainalu

In November, Madison’s own Kainalu released his experimental sophomore album, featuring his signature specialty of psychedelic funk. Ginseng Hourglass grooves to the theme of passing time — how a person contemplates and copes with his or her life, warts and all. The album follows Kainalu's 2019 album, Lotus Gate, a work that introduced listeners to his eclectic world of modern psychedelia. The Madison release party features openers Javier Reyes and The Earthlings.

media release: Madison-based rising psychedelic-funk multi-instrumentalist Kainalu shares the vulnerable psych-funk title track out now with an accompanying vibrant lyric video, from his forthcoming LP Ginseng Hourglass. The contemplative, experimental sophomore LP by Kainalu is due out November 4. Shop exclusive Kainalu merch on sale now here and join Kainalu for the official album release parties in Madison on December 2 and Chicago on December 3.

"Ginseng Hourglass" rhighlights a heavier, more personal side of Kainalu as he grapples with the finiteness of life, and powerfully captures the complexities of loss and the importance of growth. It asks, in a fleeting lifespan, how should one spend their time? Kainalu shares the title track is, "a psychedelic funk song that explores everything from deep rhythm and overblown heaviness. Ginseng is a representation of the darker, grittier side of the album. The song is written about wrestling with the reality of your fleeting lifespan. As depicted in the album's artwork, Kainalu adds, "Ginseng - the traditional, medicinal herb, and hourglass - the falling sands of time. Together the words symbolize the sands of time. How will you spend the life you’ve been gifted?"

The song's weighty subject matter was inspired by a conversation Kainalu had with his mother before she passed away. Referencing the track's compelling lyrics, Kainalu continues,"The contemplation presented by the song climaxes in the bridge: “When you’re life’s run, will you tell it like you turned your lights off? Did you spend it all overly cautious? Were you someone your mother was proud of? Or did you keep running from all of your problems?” This line resonates deeply with me because it was written after I had one of the final conversations with my mother before she passed of stage 4 cancer. In those last moments of her life, she imparted as much love and wisdom upon me to “carry me through the rest of my life” because she knew she wouldn’t be there to help me along." Though the lyrics may be dark, the energy is juxtaposed by the track's bubbly, glittering instrumental signaling that a sense of hope remains.

The recently released introspective "Intuitions / Inhibitions" featuring MUNYA picks up where the previously shared nostalgia-tinged psychedelic-house track "Queen of Wands" left off. The airy groove wrestles with the apprehension that comes with taking risks in love and trusting one's instincts, which aren't always right. Longtime collaborators and internet friends, the latest track sees the musicians expand upon their creative foundation to arrive somewhere brand new as MUNYA's vocals float along the bassline. 

The smooth psych-funk jam "Queen of Wands," inspired by a tarot reading and the power of femininity, caught the attention of tastemakers like EARMILK and Acid Stag. EARMILK wrote, "Besides the sludgy bass that feels as luring as smudged lipstick, the synth ascent feels like warm summer waves in the ocean. On top of the instrumentations, there's the sensualness of the distorted vocal, reminiscent and assuring at the same time." Acid Stag added the track "immediately lures you in with the ultra smooth bass line injecting considerable groove into the soundscape and sets the addictive tone in tact immediately. With breezy melodies floating majestically through the mix with their effortlessness...glowing synths...crispy percussion."

The forthcoming captivating project titled Ginseng Hourglass is a contemplative, philosophical exploration of the passage of time and the finiteness of life over ni enveloping tracks. It manages to strike a delicate balance of feeling airy and effervescent while plunging into the depths of despair. Following the recent untimely passing of his mother, and the conversations they had surrounding her life and mortality in her last few months, Kainalu took to creating an album that captures the tiny joys amid the trauma and wisdom in the emotional ruin. Though the LP's subject matter is sad, Ginseng Hourglass is anything but, as it finds hope in the midst of pain. “I don’t want people to think this album is sad because it’s not," says Kainalu. “I have always used music as a way to heal. That’s what this music is — a way to escape into a vibe and atmosphere when the world was crumbling. It’s meant to transport you into a world because that’s what I needed when I wrote it.”

The concept of the album shown in the cover art resembles the falling sand in an hourglass — the embodiment of time slipping away, knowing one’s time is all the more precious. Moving from groove to groove across the project, the joy lies in its danceable tunes, but dig deeper to find a rabbit hole of emotions and profound processing in its lyrical content. Simply put, Ginseng Hourglass is as much therapy as it is a fever dream, with Kainalu's story and struggle front and center. Created as a means of escape and healing, Kainalu explains, “I write to escape the thoughts that keeps me up at night. It’s a therapy device and meditative practice. These past years we all experienced so much loss. On top of the pandemic, I really went through some serious trauma and I wrote this record because I needed to.” While Kainalu is the lead writer, performer, engineer and producer of his work, the LP was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Adam Thein and creatively directed by Madda Udvari-Solner.

Kainalu's earlier work gained a wide array of recognition for its innovative approach. From the Intercom wrote, "Kainalu's music sounds timeless. Even back when he released his first Bloom Lagoon EP (2017) and its pulsing retro-psychedelic debut album Lotus Gate (2019) which has garnered millions of streams on Spotify, Kainalu’s music already established itself as a modern approach to glitzy 70s psych and funk, always inspiring its listeners to move." Like much of his single art featuring quickly evaporating hourglasses, the fragility of life and the preciousness of time are threaded through his music.  It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine recognized this, writing, "Beneath a titanic bass line lies a deep lyrical exploration of one’s relationship with the finiteness of life." When highlighting emerging AAPI musicians, Grammy.com lauded, "You hear his confidence bloom in the music. Prall’s 2019 album Lotus Gate and his just-released single "Revelator" seem to drip with sunshine and orange juice. Whenever keyboards stomp, low and insistently, or stray bass notes dip in and out like lingering pool flies, Kainalu’s voice cuts through it; he seems to stand tall, like the director of his own dream."

Trent Prall is the writer, producer, engineer and singer behind Kainalu, a word that roughly translates to "ocean waves" in Hawaiian. Raised Buddhist in the Midwest, Kainalu's roots lay in his Japanese-Hawaiian heritage and inform both his writing and sound. Since 2017, the multi-instrumentalist has been blending psychedelic funk, synthy beats, and distorted vocals with vulnerable lyricism to immerse listeners in a kaleidoscopic, expansive daydream. In addition to his solo music, Kainalu tours with Joe Keery's (Stranger Things) musical project Djo around the U.S.

When performing live, Kainalu is joined by Joe Waldbillig (guitar), Evan Nelson (bass), Matthew Allen (drums) and Julian Russell (drums) and conga drummer Aaron Gochberg, who combine to create a jam-influenced rendition of his recorded music.