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Unity

by Gordon Koang

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 AUD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Green vinyl LP of Gordon Koang's debut album. 180 gram vinyl, in a beautiful matte finish jacket.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Unity via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 500 

      $40 AUD or more 

     

  • Limited Edition Baby Pink Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Third pressing, baby pink vinyl LP of Gordon Koang's debut album. 180 gram vinyl, beautiful matte finish jacket and double-sided lyric sheet with a message from Gordon himself!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Unity via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

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Kone Ke Ran 06:50
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South Sudan 08:05
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Mal Mi Goa 07:50
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Y Dah 08:55
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about

Gordon Koang is a fountain of warmth and joy, immediately accepting any stranger who strays into his presence. With a beaming smile that is unfettered by blindness, a condition he has lived with since birth, Gordon welcomes any and all around him, encouraging them to sit for a while and chat, maybe even to share a song.

Originating from the Nile Valley in what is now South Sudan, Koang was born blind and began playing music from an early age, busking on the streets of Juba and producing his own self-released CD-R’s and cassettes, before becoming a crowd favourite and recording a series of singles and music videos celebrating South Sudan’s cultural wealth. His music went viral, spreading throughout the country, and Koang was invited to perform at everything from weddings and political rallies to church meetings and parties alike. His reputation quickly grew as the poet and homegrown hero of the Nuer people, sometimes called the ‘Michael Jackson of South Sudan’.

In 2013, while Koang was performing to expatriate Nuer communities in Australia, renewed conflict broke out at home. He made a difficult and heartbreaking decision to not return to Sudan, applying to the Australian government for humanitarian protection. After six long years of waiting, living in a foreign country far away from his family, he now proudly calls himself an ‘Australian’, and eagerly awaits the day he will rejoin his wife and children in safety.

Unity is, remarkably, Gordon’s eleventh full-length album, and his first since coming to Australia. It is his only recorded output in a painstakingly long six years of living as an asylum seeker, mostly recorded in the last winter months of 2019, when Gordon began performing with local musicians through the Music in Exile label. The album was completed just weeks before Gordon was awarded his permanent residency. He could have had no way of knowing, and yet there is no frustration in the songs, not a shred of impatience or anger - only Gordon’s unending positivity, his love of all people and of the world he has never seen.

Gordon Koang 'Unity' out August 14, 2020 through Music in Exile / Light in the Attic (USA) and Cargo Records (UK/EU).

credits

released August 14, 2020

All songs written by Gordon Koang Duoth. Recorded in Melbourne, Australia by Stefan Blair and James Mannix over the course of 2020. Mixed and mastered by John Lee at Phaedra Studios. Performed by Gordon Koang Duoth, Paul Biel Kueth, Stefan Blair, Paul Ceraso, James Mannix and Liam Parsons.

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about

Gordon Koang Melbourne, Australia

Gordon Koang hails from the Upper Nile region of what is now South Sudan. Accompanied by his cousin Paul Biel, Gordon performs a blend of traditional Neur rhythms and original compositions in English, Arabic, and his native language, Neur.

After 5 long years Gordon was granted asylum in Australia the country he now calls HOME. His new album UNITY is that story as a beacon of connectivity and love
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