Kula Shaker has today released their new single titled ‘Be Merciful’ from their upcoming album ‘Wormslayer’, dropping January 30. A concept from conception from a set of artists that I consider the sonic chameleons of independent music, ‘Be Merciful’ takes me back to those days when a song was an event. Not that Spotify influenced click bait that puts the hook in the first four measures, but something with substance and girth. This is a song that feels like a journey that leaves you with something more than what you came with.
Kula Shaker have long ago wrote their name in the book of indie, but this shows that music can still mean something. A glimpse of greatness, maybe? Not something to rush you to the next big thing, because it is that big thing. To some, this will be an orchestra of obscurity. To those that want too fast but think too slow, this will be an alien message filled with numbers, sounds, and other things that they can never understand. But, to those it the know, this is zen wrapped in zooropa.
About Kula Shaker & ‘Wormslayer’
Consistently one of Britain’s most exhilarating live bands, Kula Shaker have evolved from a phenomenally successful anomaly of the Britpop era to step into an adventurous, ambitious and hallucinogenic new era with the release of their upcoming album Wormslayer out on January 30, 2026. The band have opened a window into their technicolor future with the singles “Good Money”, “Charge of the Light Brigade” and “Broke as Folk” all amplifying excitement for the new record. That anticipation will be freshly elevated as they share the new song “Be Merciful” out today.
“Be Merciful” is a classic Kula Shaker deep cut. Part folk song, part soulful lament, the track began almost twenty years ago as an acoustic demo, produced by the electronic pioneer Mark Pritchard (Jedi Knights, Harmonic 33, the Thom Yorke collab album Tall Tales) — a vinyl bootleg of this demo has since become a highly collectible 7” single.
As frontman Crispian Mills explains, “There was a limited vinyl pressing, but it was such an obscure release. I wasn’t sure if it had even happened until, years later, fans would ask me to sign their copies. The song always had a special quality though, and Kula Shaker would play it from time to time and we found it really worked alongside the other tracks on Wormslayer. We kept a lot of Mark’s original ideas: his spooky mellotrons and analog ambient spaces; then we then dialed in the power and live energy of a band performance. The result was electric.”
Wormslayer is an album which never stays in one lane, detouring beyond its electrifying psychedelic heartbeat and into gothic crooning, pastoral folk and expansive mantra-metal.
The Wormslayer album is available to pre-order / pre-save HERE. The band’s official store offers a selection of exclusive album bundles which add a signed insert and a bonus CD which features 15 minutes of studio bootlegs.
Featured image by Sandrita Cardenas.
Kula Shaker is:
- Crispian Mills (vocals/guitar)
- Alonza Bevan (bass)
- Paul Winterhart (drums)
- Jay Darlington (Hammond organ).
LINKS:
https://kulashaker.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/kulashaker
https://x.com/kulashaker
https://www.instagram.com/kulashakerofficial
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoTrZweaRXMDdY9ItQ3RiZA
