aaamusic | On 02, May 2011

On 16th May 2011, Jim Kroft will be releasing his 2nd single ‘The Jailer’ from his upcoming sophomore album ‘The Hermit And The Hedonist’ which will be released in September 2011.

The first single ‘Memoirs from the Afterlife’ went top 100 in the Germany National Airplay chart for 6 weeks – the only song to appear in the chart without a record company this year.

It is representative of Kroft´s gradual emergence from the underground on his own terms.

Having formed Creel Commission in London in 2002, then moved his then new band Myriad Creatures to Berlin in 2007 (who recorded their debut with The Strokes producer Gordon Raphael), Kroft is an unlikely veteran of the industry´s turmoil.

Back in 2006, Jac Holzman (who set up Elektra and signed The Doors) flew over to England to sign Creel Commission to his new Cordless label. During the meet he said that he had read one of Kroft´s interviews and been reminded of Morrison – only that “Jim would have given less of a shit”. It was only then that it was pointed out that Jim had in fact left the band.

New single ‘The Jailer’ is a celebration of Kroft´s long journey, and features backing vocals by Metronomy´s bassist Olugbenga Adelekan, as well as a re-mix by international DJ Daniel Rajkovic.

The music industry collapsed years ago but Kroft is unconcerned. The longer he stays in exile, he reasons, the greater his commitment to write the songs which will lead him back one day.

The ethos of Kroft´s unravelling project is chronicled on his website, and his belief that great songs will find their way to its audience is slowly gathering fruit. In particular of recent he has enjoyed the wonderful creative partnerships in both Berlin and London which his songs have attracted – whether with Berlin´s infamous Sunst Brothers on the graphic concept, Tanzanian filmmakers Filmcake on ‘Modern Monk’, or the continuing support of thriving East London studio ‘Urchin Studios’.

Kroft is finding a way to get his project made in the lost currency of collaboration, the old fashioned ethos of making something for the love it, and the support of a burgeoning artistic community on the ground.