Ki! is songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Christian Ki Dall. Aside from his solo productions, he’s
both a musician, known in particular for his guitar playing (performing with the likes of Sterling
Roswell of Spaceman 3, The Telescopes, Death Valley Sleepers and many more), and a
producer (for Sting-guitarist Rufus Miller, Dør nr. 13 and soul outfit and Crunchy Frog-labelmates
D/troit, among others).

Ki! was born in South Korea, living in an orphanage in the Haeundae District of Busan. He was
adopted and grew up in Denmark. The Boy From Haeundae Beach, Ki!’s debut, double LP
album of 20 tracks, was born as the tunes were written and recorded, track by track, over the
course of a couple of years, many as homages to some of his favourite artists such as Fela Kuti,
Sharon Jones, George Harrison, J Dilla, Link Wray etc.

From the first single ‘Mây Trôi’s groovy mix of Vietnamese Vong Co-style ...

Ki! is songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Christian Ki Dall. Aside from his solo productions, he’s
both a musician, known in particular for his guitar playing (performing with the likes of Sterling
Roswell of Spaceman 3, The Telescopes, Death Valley Sleepers and many more), and a
producer (for Sting-guitarist Rufus Miller, Dør nr. 13 and soul outfit and Crunchy Frog-labelmates
D/troit, among others).

Ki! was born in South Korea, living in an orphanage in the Haeundae District of Busan. He was
adopted and grew up in Denmark. The Boy From Haeundae Beach, Ki!’s debut, double LP
album of 20 tracks, was born as the tunes were written and recorded, track by track, over the
course of a couple of years, many as homages to some of his favourite artists such as Fela Kuti,
Sharon Jones, George Harrison, J Dilla, Link Wray etc.

From the first single ‘Mây Trôi’s groovy mix of Vietnamese Vong Co-style guitar and soul music
(sounding like a poppy-red sunset on a faded postcard) to the motown magic of ‘Happy’ (retro in
line with Amy Winehouse’s re-imagining of the genre), the variety of genres, styles and sounds
on the album is all over the map, drawing inspirations from different periods and from all over
the world.

The album’s 20 highly diverse tracks feel like a mixtape equivalent to a travelogue. The audio
version of notes scribbled on the back of weathered photographs, pencil drawings and pressed
flowers collected in a banged up notebook. Some are instrumental, some feature guest
vocalists. Some tracks are glimpses, short stops on the trip: the fly-on-the-wall tribute to
Elizabeth Cotten, the horizon-spanning scale of the scene-setting opener ‘Haeundae Beach
Boy’. Others feel like week- or month-long stays: From the French melancholic soul and
Ethiopian jazz of ‘Je Suis Toujours Là (feat. Al Agami & Trine Jørck)’ to the Fela Kuti-homage
‘Abeokuta’ - the latter with guitar playing so nimble it could pick your pockets.
You can enjoy each step on the way separately, but if you listen to the 20-track double album in
full, you’ll see that, rather than cataloguing a series of destinations, it’s a carefully curated,
lovingly put together sonic journey. The unifying aspects of Ki!’s sound – the touches and
timbres that make Ki! Ki! – unfold underway. There is a holistic aspect to his eclecticism that
gives the album the breadth and depth that ultimately is the real attraction.

Bon voyage!...

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