Kula Shaker

Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by singer Crispian Mills, the band became notable during the Britpop era of the 1990s. The group enjoyed commercial success in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 1999, scoring several top-ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, among them "Tattva", "Hey Dude", "Govinda", "Hush" and "Sound of Drums". The band's debut album, K, reached number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It was voted number 879 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums, 3rd Edition (2000).

The band is known for its interest in the traditional music, culture and mysticism of India, and several of its best-known songs, including "Tattva" and "Govinda", feature lyrics written in Sanskrit. The name Kula Shaker was inspired by Kulasekhara, a 9th-century Indian king. In addition, many of the band's songs incorporate traditional Indian instruments such as the sitar, the tambura and the tabla, juxtaposed with a Western rock instrumentation in which the guitar predominates. Despite its commercial success, the band was not well received by some critics.

Kula Shaker split up in September 1999, but reunited in 2004 for the sessions of the compilation album School of Braja. This led to plans for a full return, although the reunion was not widely publicised until early 2006. The band's third album, Strangefolk, was released in 2007, and the fourth, Pilgrims Progress, in 2010. The band returned with a European tour, almost all of whose dates sold out, and with the new album K 2.0 in 2016, which was well received by both the press and fans.

After a long hiatus, the band released its sixth album, 1st Congregational Church of Eternal Love and Free Hugs, in June 2022; its seventh album, Natural Magick, in 2024; and its eighth, Wormslayer, in January 2026.