Flamingods

The album title comes from the Arabic translation of Ras Rumman رأس الرمان; the name of the Bahraini village where frontperson Kamal Rasool’s late Father grew up, a place where pomegranates were once cultivated. Kamal lost his dad to Covid during the writing process, which had a notable impact on the LP’s direction. Tributes are scattered throughout the record; which traverses themes of grief, spirituality, culture, identity and recovery. Travelling to balmy Atlanta, Georgia – the band spent a month in the studio with Ben H. Allen – with the sunny location paralleling the heat they grew up with in Bahrain. It was a rejuvenating experience for the band and a timely reminder of their roots. Kamal reflects; “By the end of our last album campaign [Levitation] we were very close to throwing in the towel. Making this album felt a bit like our redemption moment. It helped us through a lot – including my grieving process. Getting to work with Ben was a dream come true, we grew up listening to records he made. It felt like he was the missing piece we had been looking for.”

New single ‘Gutterball’ packs a punch – exploring political dissatisfaction through surrealist lyricism and a potent, accelerating groove. Rasool elaborates; “Gutterball came to be simply by us wanting to create a Middle Eastern inspired punk / new wave track that would kill when we played it live. We hooked up our Turkish Saz guitar to a tonne of fuzz and looped distorted bass and synthesizers over Sam’s repetitively tight beats. I wanted to mess around with political/satirical themes for the song, looking to protests and revolution for inspiration.. The mantra of the song is ‘Spit it out’ – if something is rotten you don’t swallow it’’.”

Alongside Kamal Rasool, Flamingods are Sam Rowe, Karthik Poduval and Charles Prest. Although still barely 30 years old individually, Flamingods have been playing music together under various guises since the age of sixteen. Grounded in their shared youth growing up in Bahrain, it’s this brotherly bond that underpins their near telepathic level of musicality. Having been based out of London for the past decade, the band have earned their reputation as a singular fixture in the UK scene. Weaving kinetically through psychedelia, new wave, electronica and punk – often within the same song – is a bit of a specialty for the band, as is their knack for blending in influences from their unique cultural heritages (with eight nationalities between them) and love of 70s British rock and roll. “We’re a band of mixed-race boys making alternative rock music, something that’s quite rare within our scene” comments Poduval,“we’re very much influenced by our heritage (Middle Eastern, South Asian, West African and British) but aren’t engrossed in making traditional or obvious rock music. We’d rather make it our own.”

Across each consecutive release, Flamingods have gained some strong momentum, welcoming a diverse and dedicated fan base into their unique world. Fiercely independent, across their four albums and wider discography the band have released through prolific indie imprints including Moshi Moshi, Soundway and Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground. The band have toured extensively across the globe, with their highly-praised live show known for its euphoric high energy, including showcasing at SXSW, Iceland Airwaves, Transmusicales and Tallinn Music Week. As well as sold out headline shows through the UK, the band have appeared at major festivals including  End of the Road, Field Day, Greenman and Glastonbury. As long standing favourites of BBC 6Music, Flamingods have hit the playlist multiple times, with sessions under their belt for Lauren Laverne, Giles Peterson and Vic Galloway. More widely, they’ve also appeared in sessions for KEXP and Boiler Room, and made their debut TV appearance on C-Beebies show Yolanda’s Band Jam. With the announcement of Head of Pomegranate, Flamingods firmly plant the seeds for what’s to come next, an era set to blossom with the collective at the the height of their craft. 

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