King Khan is that fiery arrow shot into the night sky which no one knows how high or far it will travel, however we do know that as that fiery arrow streaks across the heavens, along the way its flames will light up dark places. King Khan’s music can become the voice of many around the world, some who have never been heard from before.” – John B. Smith (Leader of the Invaders)
Documentary film The Invaders (2022) follows the rise and fall of a militant black power group based in Memphis, TN in the late 1960’s, from its creation, to their final negotiations with Martin Luther King Jr. minutes before his assassination. Filmmaker Prichard Smith’s striking documentary features all new music composed by the legendary King Khan, which is now being released as a beautiful 18-track double LP featuring contributions from Adan Jodorowsky, Saba Lou (Khan’s daughter), Ian Svenonius and more. From full throttle rock tracks to haunting string pieces and propulsive instrumental grooves, these songs also mark a return to the rock world after Khan’s adventurous and acclaimed pair of instrumental jazz/soul albums (The Nature of Things (2003) and The Infinite Ones (2020)). A handful of these tracks have previously appeared on limited and now out of print 7”s during the filmmaking process, often in alternate versions, but this mark’s the first time all of Khan’s contributions to The Invaders will be available in one place (and many for the first time). The limited initial pressing of “The Invaders – Original Score” is limited to only 500 copies on multicolored interstellar splatter LPs cut at 45 rpm for maximum fidelity (and because Khan insists many of these tracks take on a life of their own when slowed down and listened back at 33rpm!)
On his musical contributions herein and the film in general Khan waxes: “The Mighty Hannibal taught me an amazing lesson about blindness. When the doctors told him that he would go blind if he didn’t take his glaucoma meds he responded simply “Ugh, I’ve seen enough'”Hannibal then sent me a gospel song he wrote about how lucky he was to have gone blind because he could never judge anyone based on what they looked like – rather it was now by their actions. When he told this to me I decided to do the entire soundtrack “blind. This meant I made the music without seeing the images. Any beautiful synchronicities that would occur between the celluloid and my music would be magical. This simple approach made the film give me shivers upon seeing it completed, a feeling I rarely get these days from films let alone documentaries. I never got to thank Hannibal for his sage advice, but I feel like he guided me in so many ways that he is always above me watching what I do. He taught me to be a better father and husband and listener. The struggle of the Invaders never ended, in the same way the hidden agenda of fascists is still very strong and we see hints of it in every police commissioner or government official that wishes death upon the poor huddled masses rather than trying to help them have simple basic human rights.
He continues: “The Invaders film is not just a documentary it’s a hard core lesson to all activists to put in the work and find out what every community needs, addressing these individual needs and simply caring for the wounds that rot when ignored. Before you wallow in self pity and misery, take a deep breath and learn to breathe. Just a simple act of inhalation and exhalation is what brings us back to reality and calms our nerves and prepares us for the task at hand. Never forget what Malcolm said… “When the “i” is replaced by “we” even “illness” becomes “wellness”. Add to it Mike Stand Up’s version… “When the “I” is replaced by “One” even illness becomes “Oneness.” Follow the Mohawk 10 commandments and meet me on top of that mountain.”
Today Glide is excited to premiere two of the tracks from the score, including “Never Hold Back” featuring Miranda Zipse of Miranda & The Beat as well as the instrumental track “Never Hold On.” Each of the these songs capture the range of the psych-rock legend while also showing a more restrained side to someone known more for his wild live performances than for film scores. Here we find the King tapping into a soulful 70s sound that feels like orchestrated Dap-tones music as well as a sophisticated blaxploitation soundtrack as the songs lock into the emotion of the subject matter while still coming across cool as all hell. The bond is extra special on the vocal version because Miranda Zipse also happens to be King Khan’s daughter, and you can feel the connection in the power that she brings to the song.
Miranda Zipse (of Miranda & The Beat) describes the process that went into the tune: “While in Germany recording with King Khan we had a late night of sharing music and drinking German beer. He showed me the Invaders soundtrack and I really connected with the song “Never Hold On.” We got excited and decided to lay down a vocal track for fun. While recording I got really into the power of the song and sang the lyrics “never hold back” instead. We decided it brought a whole new meaning to the track and thought it would be cool to release an alternate version. The lyrics to this song are very close to my heart and I had so much fun bringing new life to it.”
King Khan: “The greatest gift I could ever receive is having one of my daughters sing a song I wrote about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The struggles he faced are still the same, and my family chooses music as our weapon. For this version, Miranda changed the chorus to Never Hold Back, which makes the song even more meaningful. so I dedicate this song to the struggle of our real Indian warriors, be it the Mohawks, Blackfoot or Anishinaabe, we will overcome and bring the bodies of our mothers, daughters or sisters…. we cannot be moved or filed away in some bullshit police office cabinet.”
LISTEN:
