Opus Kink release Western themed single ‘Wild Bill’

The south coast sextet, Opus Kink, have teamed up with producer and frontman of The Charlatans, Tim Burgess, to release their latest single, ‘Wild Bill’.

The band consists of Angus (vocals and guitar), Sam (bass), Fin (drums), Jazz(drums), Johnny (trumpet) and Jed (alto saxophone).

 

‘Wild Bill’ was released on March 19th and is the band’s first release of 2021, following on from their previous EP last June, ‘Requiem for a Quarantaine’. All profits of this EP were donated to local Brighton venue, ‘The Green Door’ and various Black Lives Matter charities. Melting British rock culture with a Wild West feeling; if Clint Eastwood met the Peaky Blinders, this is what it would sound like.

 

The song is a tirade of raging guitars and saxophones to accompany Angus Rogers’ voice which throws you straight into the Wild West. The cinematic concept of the track is key to its enjoyability. The song took an interesting path to its release, birthed in an industrial estate in their hometown of Brighton. It then headed on a journey to the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales where The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess had a hand in the production of the track. 

 

The band describes the song as a story that “takes the frontier lawman-gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock and ungraciously twists him into a poster boy for the Western gentleman’s assault on God, death, judgement, nature, women and foreigners”. 

 

‘Wild Bill’ takes inspiration from a wide eclectic mix of different artists. The diverse list includes The Lounge Lizards, The Blockheads, Ali Farka Toure, Fela Kuti, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen.

 

It is clear there is wide mix of influences with its fusion of jazz stylings and Latin rhythms. Needless to say, this experiment has been a great success, leaving the listener happily surprised.

  

‘Wild Bill’ is out now via New Swan Records.

 

- Josh Bailey-Lee

@joshbaileylee

Image: https://www.niceswanrecords.com/artists/opus-kink-nice-swan-records/