Another week down, 11 more to go. It doesn’t feel like it at the end of January, but Coachella will be here before you know it. That’s why it’s time to preview another band performing in Indio this year. Like last week though, this week’s preview doesn’t feature a band (maybe I should change the name on these previews). It’s an electronic artist named Kungs.
Kungs is a French DJ whose real name is Valentin Brunel. He’s also only 20 years old (and freshly 20 might I add because his birthday was in December)! He grew up interested and involved in music with influences from his parents especially his dad who introduced him to rock n’ roll as well as other genres. By the age of 17, he began writing his own material and posting it to the internet. His remixes of Bob Marley’s “Jammin'” and Lost Frequencies’ “Are You With Me” as well as his Lana Del Rey “West Coast” cover ft. Molly have several million views on SoundCloud and Youtube. What turned into his breakthrough hit was released almost a year ago. It’s called “This Girl”, which he remixed. It was originally a 2009 song by Australian funk band Cookin’ On 3 Burners. It turned into a massive hit worldwide and paved the way for Kungs and his debut album Layers. The album was just released on November 4th.
Kungs electronic style is mostly house music. His particular style blends different genres of music together, which is what he aimed for on his debut album. I listened to the album a few weeks ago right before the Coachella lineup dropped and each song brings a different vibe. Besides “This Girl”, two of my favorites are “Don’t You Know” ft. Jamie N Commons and “Melody” ft. Luke Pritchard of The Kooks. I feel like both of those songs blend house with rock and indie rock, which might be why I like them so much. The album is so good that I actually took a little break while writing this to buy it online. So worth it. It’s that good.
I first heard Kungs via Instagram. A girl I follow posted a video with “This Girl” playing in the background. I didn’t take an interest in the song and it was kind of just “background music” for me. A few weeks later I found myself stuck with part of the song in my head and I couldn’t figure out where I knew the song from. It took me about a day before I realized it was the song from that Instagram video. Then about 2 weeks after that I stopped to visit my cousins before heading to the NWSL Semifinal. At dinner on the night I visited, my cousin started telling me about a song he was currently addicted to. It was, of course, “This Girl”. I didn’t recognize the song title or artist when he told me the name (cause I actually didn’t know who the artist was or what the song was called from that Instagram video), but once he played it I realized what I was listening to. The following week I added the song to my workout playlist and to my iTunes too. I was hooked on it ever since. Like I said I listened to Kungs’ debut album a few weeks ago and loved what I heard. I can’t wait to have the album in my grasp. Until then, I plan on doing some serious listening on Spotify.
Along with Coachella, Kungs is booked to play Europe’s biggest electronic music festival, Tomorrowland. I highly recommend seeing him play Coachella this year more than any other artist or band I preview. He’s already blowing up and there’s no doubt if he continues making solid music he’ll just get bigger. He’s not a highly billed artist at Coachella this year either and in my opinion there’s something special about seeing a band or artist before they reach headlining status. That’s not to say he won’t be given a spot later in the day. The kid has already opened for David Guetta on tour so I wouldn’t put it past him. He plays Friday. Here’s what you should know if you plan on seeing him (and you should!):
- This Girl ( vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners)
- Melody (ft. Luke Pritchard)
- Don’t You Know (ft. Jamie N Commons)
- Crazy Enough (ft. Richard Judge)
- Are You With Me (Kungs Remix)
- I Feel So Bad (ft. Ephemerals)
Honestly, just listen to Layers and you should be good.
The Spentertainic Source 