KAI REESU: THE SAY AWARD-WINNING DEBUT WITH KOMPROMAT VOL. II, LAUNCHING AT THE RUM SHACK ON 13 NOVEMBER

NEWS | KAI REESU – KOMPROMAT VOL. II | 16th October 2026

I still owe Smokey Gordy some ketchup.

Sighthill Shopping Centre in Edinburgh, a Thursday night in spring. Benni Murks was filming a video in the street; I had spare chips from the Chinese, and the man whose band had won Scottish Album of the Year wanted to know if there was any ketchup going. There wasn’t any.

I’ve written about them three times since. In June, Smokey told me Kelburn wouldn’t be like playing a gig…because most folk wouldn’t have heard of them. His job was to be a gladiator in Rome. In July, I watched them headline the Pyramid Stage in a glen that hadn’t stopped raining in three days, playing what they called raucous bangers to people who had every reason to go back to their tents and didn’t.

Now the follow-up is here. Kompromat Vol. II is out in November, and Kai Reesu are launching it at The Rum Shack in Glasgow on Friday 13 November. Only their second Glasgow show this year.

At Kelburn, they told me the new record was denser, longer and more ambitious than the first. They’re calling it Noircore now. I’ve only heard what they played that night, including ‘Eskhatos‘, so I can’t tell you yet what the whole thing sounds like. What I can tell you is the Kelburn crowd took to the new songs straight away, and most of that crowd hadn’t come for them.

Rebekah Naomi is on the bill. She’s played in their touring band for the past year, and at Kelburn she walked out mid-set for a new single, old-school swing hip-hop with p-funk in its bones. Sonedo are a new name to me. They’re longlisted for this year’s SAY Award, the same prize Kai Reesu won the year before, so I’ll be there early.

So should you. Live music starts at 7:30, and anyone in by 8:15 gets a wee dram from Fettercairn. After the bands, Radio Buena Vida residents Parveen’s Canteen and Ten Years Lost close the night on the decks.

It’s one of Marshall’s grassroots gigs with the Music Venue Trust, the charity fighting to keep small venues open across the UK. The £10 early birds have already sold out. Tickets are now £15 plus a booking fee. TICKETS HERE

At Kelburn, they had to win over people who’d never heard of them. On the 13th, they won’t have to. I’m bringing the ketchup.