Johannesburg’s afro-rock outfit BLK JKS have put pen to paper for a lucrative deal with American Independent record label Secretly Canadian.
Secretly Canadian, which is called home by international stars such as Animal Collective, Antony and the Johnsons, and Scout Niblett, will reissue the band’s Mystery EP on March 10 2009.
Mystery was recorded at New York’s famed Electric Lady studios and was produced by Brandon Curtis of the Secret Machines.
The BLK JKS have recently returned from successful tours of the United States and Europe, where the foreign media fawned all over them, with the Observer and the New York Times giving them rave reviews and Fader Magazine describing them as “a movement unto themselves”.
BLK JKS rhythm guitarist Mpumi Mcata says securing the deal meant a lot to the band.
‘Mostly it means that if you want to be a musician or artist in South Africa, you need to stick to your guns and see it through and things can happen for you,” says Mcata.
‘Secretly Canadian picked up on the things we have been doing over the last couple of years and they approached us.”
Mcata says the band want to finish their debut album in January and then head for the US so that they can be on tour when the EP is re-released.