Kevin Bronson on March 22nd, 2021

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Kan Wakan, the recording project of L.A.-based Bulgarian composer and producer Gueorgui Linev, has returned with the first single from the second in his album trilogy, “Phantasmagoria Vol. 2.”

“Oh Mother,” a collaboration with singer-songwriter Jessica Childress, is a strikingly cinematic lament about prejudice showcasing Kan Wakan’s forté: an otherworldly blend of orchestral arrangements, shaped by Linev’s classical upbringing, and contemporary beat-driven electronica. It was composed amid the Los Angeles protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“The song was written against the backdrop of a global pandemic and a global reckoning on race that we’ve never witnessed before,” Linev says. “I woke up during the middle of the night in my Koreatown studio to the sound of choppers and sirens, and had this melody looping in my mind that I quickly recorded on my voice memos. My first thought the next morning was to call Jessica and share it with her.”

Says Childress: “‘Oh Mother’ is a tribal dirge — raw and visceral. A prayer to the ancestors for healing in a moment of complete loss. As a nation, we have been here so many times before. The cycle seems unavoidable and that feels untenable. So in the middle of all this pain, we cry for help.”

Opening with mournful strings, restless beats punctuate Childress’ emotive lyrics — as the creators point out, the song is at once “a paean for survival and a eulogy for all whose blood has been senselessly spilt.”

On the surface, the gritty, noir-ish video for the song, directed by Sofia-based Demetry (Vasilev), is a straightforward treatment of tragedy and grief. There’s been an automobile accident. People have died. Responders confront the grim task of tending to the scene. The victim prays the song’s lyrics: “Oh healer / Give us comfort where we grieve / Reveal us / Show we will not see.” 

Viewers will do a double-take, though, upon realizing that the actors, Kapka Dimova and Ryan Dennie, play multiple roles in the video — victims, first responders, witnesses. Viewed through that lens, Demetry’s video makes a dramatic statement about what it means to “bear witness.”

“Phantasmagoria Vol. 1” came out in 2018, and the second part is planned for release this summer.

Kan Wakan and Childress are donating first-month proceeds from this single to Black Votes Matter, a nonprofit focused on increasing voter registration and political education in Black communities. “Our vote is one of the most important ways to effect change in our communities, and voter suppression is alive and well,” Childress says. “This organization goes from city to city to energize and educate black voters, helping to break down those logistical barriers put in place by voter suppression initiatives so that our voices can be heard.”

||| Watch: The video for “Oh Mother”

||| Previously: Kan Wakan: An interview, “Phantasmagoria Pt. 1,” “I Would,” “Molasses”