A B O U T K I K U

Neo-psychedelic dream-pop. A project by husband and wife: Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor, named after a room in the 19th century farmhouse where we live, farm, and create. Immersive soundscaping and aural synesthetic-composition is the vessel through which we share our existence. As multi-instrumentalist producer-songwriters we explore sound palettes for our intimate dreamy, dark artful indie anti-pop. Our ten-song album Kiku was recorded here -in the parlor of The Kirk Estate.

With influences from Sigur Ros, Velvet Underground, Enya, Depeche Mode, and Fleetwood Mac.

D E T A I L S

12” black vinyl [33 rpm]
Twelve track album recorded in the parlor of The Kirk Estate.

Full color jacket features stunning artwork by Jane Beaird. Full color sleeve insert includes song lyrics. Download code included. Experience this album the way it was intended. Kiku was written specifically for the vinyl experience.

SIDE A

1. SOON

2. YOU

3. IN

4. SUPERBLOOM

5. BLIND

SIDE B

1. LIES

2. EYES

3. SOMETHING

4. DEEP

5. TRUST

written, arranged, recorded + produced by Jen O'Connor + Eric Krans
mixed and mastered by Troy Pohl
cover art by Jane Beaird
album design by Eric Krans
c 2018 The Parlor

B A C K G R O U N D

Kiku is a deeply personal concept record for The Parlor. Kiku, the Japanese word for chrysanthemum, began blooming in Krans and O'Connor’s farmhouse garden immediately following their second miscarriage, and so became a symbol of their grief, despair, resilience and faith. "Kiku grew into something we never anticipated.” What started only as vague sounds or plucked songs, grew unexpectedly into a kind of synth-folk chamber-pop. As the couple grieved, they wrote, and as they recorded they felt themselves “reaching out across the plane of the living and the dead where we stumbled upon the tiny hand of the soul we lost. We brought a piece of her, of Kiku, back with us.” It was as if Kiku shared her spirit through the creation of her eponymous requiem.

P R E S S

“Strands of utter humanity laced throughout…” –PopMatters

“Intimate and thoughtful pop music” –The Joy of Violent Movement

“devastatingly beautiful” –Indie Current“Charming synth-enhanced indie-pop that’s severely underrated.” –Extended Play Crispy New Cuts

“Intimate, personal, and gently beautiful… a message of hope and understanding for those in the grips of grief.” –Ravelin Magazine

“the kind of contemplative, artistic anti-pop the music scene needs more of these days.” –Culture Collide

“Exquisite artistry as overwhelming as heartache itself.” –Chronogram

“Creating synergistic hymns of catharsis and healing, The Parlor’s pop odes to the processes of time and understanding loss are witnessed like a winter’s thaw that brings about new shared sensations and realizations that uplift the human spirit to new heights of unbreakable love.” –Week in Pop

”Kiku is by turns inspiring and devastating, an honest record that succeeds by breaking down its insecurities and dancing over the pieces.” –ThrdCoast

S H I P P I N G

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