Błażej Król is an up-and-coming Polish musician currently active mainly in the alternative genre. He was born in Gorzów Wielkopolski, in western Poland, in 1984.
He started his music career with the band Kawałek Kulki, which he founded along with Paweł Turłaj (drums) and Magdalena Turłaj (violin, vocals) in 2001 in Gorzów Wielkopolski. He himself played the electric guitar and sang. The band is usually described as alternative rock, but it can also fit into the Polish sung-poetry genre. No one—including the band’s members—is quite sure where the band’s strange name (it seems to translate as “piece balls”) comes from. They released three EPs, the first in 2003, and were successful at various music festivals and in local concerts. They had an unusual sound that got mixed reviews, with some loving it and others being indifferent or bored. The band is still in existence, although they haven’t released an album since 2010. The current members are Magdalena Turłaj, Król, Maciej Parada (bass guitar), and Jacek Szmytkowski (drums).
In 2010, Król started a second band, the duet UL/KR with Maurycy Kiebzak-Górski. They released their first album in 2012 and a second, Ament, a year later. The band was even more alternative than Kawałek Kulki, drawing on both German romanticism and electronica; they describe their music as coming “straight from the bubbling swamp.” While their records received favorable critical reviews and Ament was named Polish Album of the Year by newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, they ended their collaboration in 2014.
Since then, Król has been working on a solo career. He has already released two albums, Flightless (Nielot, 2014) and Centipede (Wij, 2015).
“Magic” (“Magic”), from UL/KR’s second album:
Lyrics for “Magic”:
No i masz tę swoją magię.
Niż z Niemiec Wschodnich.
Kąpiele w słodkim bagnie.
Kto sam się zdecyduje,
a na kogo wypadnie?
Ci co powąchali prochu
chwilę tańczyli potem uciekli w popłochu
Ci co powąchali prochu
chwilę tańczyli…
No i masz tę swoją magię,
niż z Niemiec Wschodnich,
kąpiele w słodkim bagnie.
Kto sam się zdecyduje,
a na kogo wypadnie?
“Spell” (“Zaklęcie”), 2015, one of Król’s more popular songs:
Lyrics for “Zaklęcie”:
Nad ranem serce nie wytrzymało
I przestało bić
Chwilę przed w głowie zawrzało
A w cybuchu przestało się tlić
Mało brakowało
A zdążylibyśmy się skryć
Przypomnij raz jeszcze jak zaklęcie to brzmiało
I mocniej się chwyć
Trzy razy splunąć
Odżegnać się
Zostać choć ma się lepsze zajęcie
Trzy razy splunąć
Odżegnać się
Zostać
