Happy New Year!
The world seems to be in pain and agony right now. And there's nothing I can do. At least not by myself. I feel so extremely small. So shallow.
I seem so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet my eyes remain fixed upon the horizon.
You think you know all there is to know about me immediately upon meeting me, but everything you think you know is wrong. Passion flows through me like a river of blood.
I only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here.
I implore you to join me for this new ride.
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The second single taken from FROM THE HERMIT'S BEDROOM is called TRULY LOVE THE HUNT and will be released worldwide on January 19.
TRULY LOVE THE HUNT was written as a silent reply by NOT the victims of bullying, but more so the person who is the bully. Not to investigate the how's and why's, but the side of action/reaction to which a lot of the persons who are bullies turn to. Important inspiration to crawl into the skin of the main character of the song, was the film BULLY. #JK also drew a lot of information from the website >>>URBAN BUCH BABES. In #JK's hands, the song follows a case of sexual teenage assault and subsequent social media shaming.
TRULY LOVE THE HUNT was presented for the first time, December 30th, on an Indie Music Blog.
"December 30, 2016. By Tim Whales, >>>source
The dark-synth creator Jean Koning from the Netherlands will be releasing the LP From The Hermit’s Bedroom in March 2017.
On the 19th of January – Truly Love The Hunt – taken from the album will be released as a stand alone single.
Jean delivers music of dark context and outlook, with morose vocal encased in oppressive electronica folding a melancholic embrace around the listener.
Truly Love The Hunt is a roughly three and a sixth minute track which, both, musically and vocally rumbles around the room in ever more obsessive loops as the tale unfolds of assault and social media bullying from the perspective of the perpetrator."
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As speculated before, #JK will go on a tour in MAY!!!
His fifth solo tour is called CITY TRIPPIN' 2.0, and tourdates will be announced shortly.
The message to the tour-manager said: "I'm kind of like a 'psycho-to-go', said Jean Koning in 1995 to magazine FRET. Back then he was still the frontman for avant-punk band ILUNGA PI (better known as !JP). After a few years of doing stuff a little more relaxed in the world of music, he's crawling out of his shelve again in the form of a somewhat manic sinner-songwriter."
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December 15th, 2016: the re-mastered album SELECTED SURRENDERS is out! Available for the world, released through CROMMANIA RECORDS (the original record company who signed !JP in 1993).
SELECTED SURRENDERS is the first in a series of albums, containing music by !JP from the original albums, re-mastered, edited and sometimes an addition or alternative is added to the albums.
The first album to receive such a treatment is SURRENDER THE PINK (2004).
SELECTED SURRENDERS:
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The first single from the upcoming album FROM THE HERMIT'S BEDROOM, THE CAUSE OF ALL MY SCARS is out now!
Koning has indicated that THE CAUSE OF ALL MY SCARS took direct inspiration from Alice Walker’s gut-wrenching Possessing The Secret Of Joy — a novel whose narrative revolves around the horrifically real practice of female genital mutilation. Never one to shy away from the topical, Koning succeeds again on what’s likely his most recognizable song by allowing the gravity of the music to carry the enormous weight of the topics discussed in the lyrics.
Thematically, the lyrics of THE CAUSE OF ALL MY SCARS are an extended metaphor that’s deliberately vague in its references to sexual oppression, female adolescence, and the perils invariably tied to denying the cruel realities that exist in both contexts. The song lyrically begs for a sort of reckoning, both for its speaker and for the listener with whom it connects. The satisfaction of closure never comes, though, and it’s precisely the thing that provides the song’s most unforgiving punch. With music and lyrics doing battle for the listener’s attention by delivering a troubling glimpse of humanity’s utter cruelty and malice against the backdrop of an outstanding and radio-ready pop song.
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The album FROM THE HERMIT'S BEDROOM will be released March 30th 2017.
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Still celebrating the fact that #JK is active for over 25 years as a one-of-a-kind musician and extremely gifted songwriter.