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Kalush Orchestra, the winners of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, have joined forces with Finnish rock legends and fellow Eurovision 2022 contestants, The Rasmus, to release a new Ukrainian-folk influenced version of ’00s rock mega hit ‘In The Shadows’. The new version, titled ‘In The Shadows Of Ukraine’, is out now via Relentless Records. Watch here.
The release is accompanied by a black and white music video directed by Leonid Kolosovsky. With a mostly Ukrainian creative team, the video served as an opportunity to authentically express what many Ukrainians are going through right now.
Kalush Orchestra frontman Oleg Psiuk - "Probably all Ukrainians of my age and a little older remember this track by The Rasmus really well. I was 17 years old when I heard it for the first time and had it in on repeat. I could never have imagined that I would not only meet The Rasmus in person, but collaborate on a new version of this iconic song."
Whilst in Turin for Eurovision, the two bands gave an impromptu mash-up performance of ‘Stefania’, ‘Jezebel’ and ‘In The Shadows’ in the town square. You can watch that performance here. They built on this initial musical connection and set about recording this exciting new version of the rock anthem.
Adding their unique Ukrainian folk/hip-hop influence, ‘In The Shadows Of Ukraine’ sees Kalush Orchestra combine the immediately recognisable sound of the Telenka (Ukrainian wind instrument), a powerful chorus and Oleg Psiuk’s fast-paced rap with The Rasmus’ classic rock - bringing an up-beat, new world sound to the already iconic rock hit.
The song’s original, darker lyrics will resonate deeply with Ukrainians more than ever, and for different reasons - “They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel safe, but I'd rather kill myself than turn into their slave.”
Lauri Ylönen, co-founder and frontman of The Rasmus, said: "We immediately loved the original sound of Kalush Orchestra - Ukrainian folk, singing, flute, rap. It was inspiring to hear how this song can be reborn like that! And the lyrics are unfortunately even more relevant to what is happening now, in Ukraine and around the world.”
Eero Heinonen, bassist of The Rasmus, said: “The first time we met Kalush Orchestra was at the ESC pre-party in Amsterdam. It was already emotional, because we knew that there was a war going on in Ukraine, so meeting these musicians was like meeting friends who risked losing their lives. Then in Turin, Kalush Orchestra approached us with the idea of a mashup version of ‘Stefania’, ‘The Shadows’ and ‘Jezebel’. We performed it at a street concert and it felt like magic. I was impressed by their music. The flute combined with beatboxing gave me goosebumps. It was incredible and I had never seen anything like that in my life. My bandmates all love it too. So we were all inspired to create something and share it with everyone.”
The accompanying video contains references to the history of Ukraine and the experience of modern Ukraine. On the shoot “there was a feeling that everyone wanted to make a maximum effort for a common goal,” said Lauri Ylönen, frontman of The Rasmus.
"We were glad to reunite with The Rasmus and work together with these cool musicians. We appreciate their music and their support of Ukraine. And they are such sincere and open people. We decided straight away that we wanted to make a video for the song, so people could not only hear, but also see everything that we want to convey to the world with our new work,” said Oleg Psiuk.
With many surprises planned ahead, the collaboration between Kalush Orchestra and The Rasmus does not end here. Stay tuned to the bands’ social media for updates.
Kalush Orchestra are currently on their first tour of North America - where they are continuing to raise funds to support Ukraine (they’ve already raised 1.5 million dollars since they started fundraising earlier this year). Tickets are available here. Full details can be found below.
‘In The Shadows Of Ukraine’ by Kalush Orchestra and The Rasmus is out now via Relentless Records.
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Kalush Orchestra North American Tour Dates:
October
Friday 21 – San Francisco, City Nights
Saturday 22 – Denver, Sports Castle
Sunday 23 – Los Angeles, Avalon Hollywood
Thursday 27 – Dallas, Granada Theater
Friday 28 – Houston, Decorum
Saturday 29 – Philadelphia, NOTO Philadelphia
Sunday 30 – New York, Melrose Ballroom (sold out)
Monday 31 – New York, Melrose Ballroom (second date added)
November
Wednesday 2 – Washington DC, The Howard Theater
Thursday 3 – Miami, Sport Of Kings
Friday 4 – Chicago, Concord Music Hall
Saturday 5 – Montreal, Theatre Plaza
Sunday 6 – Toronto, The Opera House (sold out)
Monday 7 – Toronto, The Opera House (second date added)
Tuesday 8 – Edmonton, Union Hall
Wednesday 9 – Calgary, MacEwan Ballroom
Thursday 10 – Winnipeg, Exchange Event Centre
Tickets available here.
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