Kila have collaborated with friend and Ainu musician Oki on their new album, blending Irish traditional, Ainu traditional and everything in between. Kila were introduced to Oki on stage during a tour of Japan in 2004. There was an instant connection with Kila frontman Ronan O' Snodaigh that led to some exceptional music being produced between them immediately. When Kila a year later were asked to invite a musician of their choice to perform a collaborative concert with them at the Dun Laoghaire Festival of World Music in Ireland they invited Oki. He came, the concert was a huge success and from there a single and now an album were born.The album was recorded over 10 days at Kila's Kildare studio with Karl Odlum (Gemma Hayes, David Kitt, The Frames) producing and mixing. Oki lives in Northern Japan and plays the traditional Ainu instrument, the Tonkori, a 4/6 stringed instrument. It creates a deceptively simple, deeply spiritual and bewitching sound. Oki like Kila uses the traditional music of the Ainu to form the foundation of his music and from which he adds contemporary influences from Reggae to Rock.
