Today on the podcast we are featuring Bukky Sky. Learn more about him and listen to his track “harakiri‘.”
Show Notes and Transcript
Hey everyone welcome to the Eat Sleep Breathe Music podcast. I am your host Jeanette Kimszal. For those of you just joining us, this is the podcast where I talk about different musicians and how their music affects me and then play I track of theirs for you to listen to.
So you can check it out and form your own opinion as well. And if you are so interested in sharing your thoughts on this track and the artist I’ll have details at the end of the show where you can leave your comments.
Today I’m chatting about bukky sky a London-based artist, who, according to his Spotify profile he has been making music since January 2021.
I had first heard about sky and featured his track “Amazing” as a song of the day on our website back in February of the same year.
“Amazing” was off his debut EP Brave In Love and was said to draw influences from artists like The Smiths, Bob Dylan, Beirut, Benjamin Clementine, Ian Brown, Portishead, and Feist.
It blended alternative piano pop melodies that had this dark cinematic feel to it you know? The song was really inviting and described his childish way of treating people who he was in relationships with.
He also had intense vocal storytelling which is also something I hear on this new track “harakiri” that I will be playing later for you.
And “harakiri” is the second single off his latest EP HAPPYSEXYLOVEPOTION which came out earlier this month.
And I wanted to get a sense of how this track compares to the other two tracks on the EP. So it’s a three-track EP and you know all three songs have this electronic element to it that’s just very kind of chill.
And they’re just…you know they’re just cool songs. To listen to. They make you feel very at ease. They are great for relaxing or keeping on in the background.
It’s also something you know I could see like sway…maybe not really like dancing out to but just like something like you know maybe slow dance or different things like that (laughing).
I don’t know if that’s a weird description of the song but uh it’s cool to listen to his musical arrangments.
Because they are something that I think will appeal to listeners. You know? It has a lot of instrumentation going on.
And it kind of makes it this really in-depth piece. And that kind of goes across the board for all three songs on the EP.
There is this very soulful base to his music. And that is just layered on top of the electronica and also at times some guitar chords in one of the other tracks on the EP.
And you know, the song “harakiri” in particular has a lot of musical genres layered throughout the track. You have this pulsating afrobeat in the background. Then on top of that, you have the electronica vibe.
And then there is like this lo-fi hip hop element and then there is another jazz bebop sound with also these pop melodies.
So it becomes this very, very rich diverse, very lush, and interesting mix. Because it’s not just one thing but it’s this instrumentation together that makes it sound really, really cool.
Another thing I just noticed listening to the song again is there is like this uh horn sound you can, you can hear.
With the beginning opening. You can hear it in the opening 20 seconds. It goes denananan (imitating the electronic opening).
And I don’t know if that voice is like an electronic voice or another person singing. But I love the opening because it’s like denananaa (imitating opening).
Then it’s got the horns in the background and it complements each other so well.
And as I said about 20 minutes, not 20 minutes, about 20 seconds in then you start to hear the vocals from bukky sky.
And you know he has got like this almost whisper to his vocals as he raps and rhymes and it’s very smooth it’s very soft.
And I think it is what makes “harakiri” stands out from the others on the EP. It is a good song to open the EP because it makes the listener wanting more or this inviting sound.
It’s very chill. But what he is singing about is really intense so there is this chasm between the music and the lyrics.
And the reason I say that is because of what a “harakiri” is. The dictionary defines it as a ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practiced in Japan by samurai as an honorable alternative to disgrace or execution.
And so this paints this picture of the lyricist very, just like worn out and very like dishonorable and disgraceful and if you look back to some of the lyrics in his songs.
He’s talking about how he feels really tired and exhausted and just felt empty and overworked, unfulfilled. And it’s kind of like you know at the end of the rope. At the end of his rope and kind of you know kind of unsure of like where to go.
You feel like you’re putting all this energy into something and you don’t feel like you’re getting anything back and it can make you feel very disgraced and you know maybe you want to…this is execution or something (laughing).
And this is a very dark lyricism. Like the musical component is so light and airy maybe not so necessarily light and airy but it’s got a lot more…I would say more smoothness to it.
You would think it’s more of an upbeat song because of the music but the lyrics are very dark and very heavy and I…I think it’s a nice complement because sometimes we need a little seriousness in our music.
And it’s a nice thing for people who do enjoy listening to lyrics cause they can take that and take all the things that he’s feeling and kind of you know, kind of relate to it.
And I kind of hope that something can come out of this. Uhm, and sometimes it doesn’t happen and according to bukky sky you feel pretty “harakiri.”
And that’s okay. And some days we feel harakiri, your life…life isn’t perfect. There are gonna be lemons. There are going to be shitty days. There’s going to be crappy days.
I think it’s also a good outlet because you can see what other people are experiencing. And I think I keep saying the same thing with it being a nice complement to the music but with the dichotomy between this very kind of more flowy and just kind of like you know continuous cool beats……it seems that music is lighter than the lyrics.
And the lyrics make it an interesting combination and again add another element to make it really…just something more and I think it’s a really good track kind of open the EP with because it entices the listener to learn more about this artist and be like “oh what is this artist’s other music like.”
And I think he’s even kind of grown from the other EP because that sound was different to me. It was more of a darker cinematic very different…you know it still has these electronic and pop elements to it.
But uhm, when you listen to his music it’s a little more soulful, it’s a little bit more hip-hop.
Additionally, I think that he has diversity and music that is very like experimental and very cool. And even though it has these basslines of certain musical genres it
seems like he’s expanding on his music and he’s building out different types of things.
And this song compared to his last song is different sounding to me and I think that it’s cool that he’s expanding on his song, and I think that is something that people are seeing because he is getting a lot of write-ups and getting a lot of accolades.
His music has been featured on different radio stations and you know he’s gotten a lot of press from outlets including Earmilk, The Other Sides Reviews, Cut It Out, The Bops Collective, Pheonix FM, Iggy Magazine, Still Water Magazine, and Pinch of Sol and I’ll leave links to those in the show notes.
If you are interested in listening to his other music you can check it out. It’s on streaming services. It’s on Apple Music, Amazon, Bandcamp, Spotify, and Soundcloud. I’ll leave links to these in the show notes if you want to check out some of his other stuff.
And if you are into music videos there is a video that accompanies the track. It is the third in the HAPPYSEXYLOVEPOTION series and documents the story of a weird and wistful character finding his way amongst the pigeons and the cash machines of East London, in search of the life he lost somewhere. Will he eventually find the green light he was searching for? We can only hope.
So with that being said this song offers a lot for anyone looking for a deep meaning in your music. And if you’re someone just looking for a chill relaxing musical track and don’t want to dive into the lyrics this could also be up your alley.
I see I am at the 10-minute mark and I don’t want to take up too much of your time. So without further ado here is “harakiri” by bukky sky.
We would love to know what you think about bukky sky and his track “harakiri.” You can tell us in a comment on the podcast webpage. You can also leave an audio comment at the link in the episode summary.
If you’re looking for more information on bukky sky you can follow him on Instagram and TikTok at the handle BukkySky.
That is B-U-K-K-Y-S-K-Y
If you are looking for more new music be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you will get the latest updates on our artist features. You can also find more music features on our website at www.EatSleepBreatheMusic.com. That is E-a-t-S-l-e-e-p-B-r-e-a-t-h-e-M-u-s-i-c dot com.
Thanks for listening and see you in the next episode!
More Podcast Episodes
If you’re interested in finding new music please check out our other podcast episodes.