Days after revealing the relaunch of his label Casa Gogol Records, Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz is beginning to release a series of collaborations, including two remixes of British punk rockers Angelic Upstarts’ 1983 song “Solidarity,” featuring New Order and Joy Division founding member Bernard Sumner.
Give them hope, give them strength, give them life / Like a candle burning in the black of nights / We are with you in our hearts and in our minds run some of the lyrics of “Solidarity,” which originally addressed the resilience and power of collective unity of Polish workers facing oppression.
Sumner’s “Right To Freedom” and Gogol Bordello’s “Unity” remixes will benefit injured Ukrainian soldiers through Kind Deeds and stand in solidarity with oppressed groups worldwide, according to the Gogol Bordello singer, who is originally from Boyarka, Ukraine. “This is a particularly meaningful collaboration for us,” said Hütz in a statement. “To do this tribute with one of the most masterful and brilliant pioneers, Bernard Sumner is truly epic and timely.”
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Moving ahead on Casa Gogol Records, are releases by the punk duo Puzzled Panther, which also features Hütz and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Brian Chase, who will release their debut EP in early 2024, along with other releases by hypnotic singer and songwriter Grace Bergere and more.
“Youth culture is always producing new brilliant music, and you just pray that you are there when it happens.” said Hütz, “As different as Puzzled Panther and Grace Bergere are, they have the right kind of newness and right kind of oldness about them. They arrived into this world as poets with a singular vision and [a] superb knack for melodicism. To me they are the new New York, which has a lot more in common with that magical old New York we know, and none of that bullshit in the middle.”
[RELATED: Gogol Bordello on the War in Ukraine, and the Unifying Punk of ‘Solidaritine’]
Earlier in 2023, Gogol Bordello also released their collaborative benefit song for Ukraine, “United Strike Back,” featuring Green Day‘s Tre Cool, Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys, Ministry‘s Monte Pittman, Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret, Fugazi bassist Joe Lally, Sasha of Kazka, and Puzzled Panther.
In June, the band’s documentary, Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Gogol Bordello is set to kick off a series of five shows leading up to New Year’s Eve in 2023 at Brooklyn Bowl, beginning on December 27 in Philadelphia with the remaining four shows on December 28 through 31 at the venue in New York City.
Photo: Alison Clarke / CLIQMO / Courtesy of Shore Fire Media
