High Llamas

Opened up by the delirious alchemy of contemporary pop music, Sean O’Hagan leaps back into life with High Llamas, with a set of killer tunes reflecting on dimensional levels how definitions change over time.

Arranged by Sean and produced with mix collaborator Fryars to engage the eardrums in non-stop new possibilities, 'Hey Panda' radiates optimism inspired by the joys and sorrows felt in former lifetimes and the diverse conundrums of today alike.

Eight years since their last release, the pop musical 'Here Come The Rattling Trees', High Llamas have reinvented themselves again, mixing their peerless harmonic voice with what Sean regards as the “extraordinarily good” production sounds of today on 'Hey Panda'.

Choosing not to look backward to former golden ages celebrated in earlier Llamas eras, Sean’s instead found himself opened up by the sounds of music brought into the house by his adult children and the sounds encountered at sessions for which he’s recently written arrangements. In addition to the more traditional contributions he made to The Coral’s Sea of Mirrors album, plus his score for the Safdie brothers’ 2022 film production, Funny Pages, Sean’s drawn great inspiration through working with Fryars, Rae Morris, King Krule, Pearl and The Oyster, while also soaking up the work of Tierra Whack and Chicago's Pivot Gang, and being cheered on from a distance by long-time admirer, Tyler, The Creator.