HuDost Release The Monkey in the Crown, a Lush, Defiant Soundtrack for Our Times
There’s a fire burning in the garden of Eden, and HuDost are inviting us to dance through the flames. With the release of their newest album *The Monkey in the Crown*, out now on Open Sesame Music, the genre-defying duo from Montreal-by-way-of-Kentucky delivers a bold, cinematic collection that fuses Americana, world rock, and retro-pop with a poet’s soul and a protester’s heart.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like if Florence Welch, Rumi, and Radiohead took a road trip through Appalachia—you’re getting warm.
“This album is a reckoning,” shares Moksha Sommer, whose haunting vocals are matched only by the electric intimacy she conjures on stage and in studio. “It’s about transformation — how we live with grief, how we rise in love, how we face the fire and still choose to sing.”
For HuDost—Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Hines—*The Monkey in the Crown* is a culmination of decades of activism, artistry, and collaboration. From Bonnaroo to the Levitt Pavilions, they’ve played it all, weaving together harmonium, electric guitars, Balkan folk textures, and a commitment to music as medicine.
The new album features standout singles like “Broken Down in America,” a searing cry for peace in a culture consumed by violence. From its gripping opening—“Hey my son, it’s Monday morning / Use your teacher like a human shield”—to the soul-stretching chorus, “The only arms I bear are here and open,” the track strikes with visceral clarity. Co-written with Dan Haseltine (Jars of Clay/The Chosen), it pulls no punches.
Another highlight is “Acting Out the Outrage,” a poetic gut-punch that calls out performative fury and invites listeners into real emotional reckoning. “Starve the fear I’m feeding / Leave the mob they’re leading,” Moksha pleads, as the song swells from a soulful whisper to a rallying cry.
“We want people to feel everything,” says Jemal Wade Hines. “The beauty, the hurt, the hope, the fury—this record is for those who know change doesn’t come easy, but it still comes.”
Critics have taken note. Rolling Stone’s Kristi Wooten described HuDost as “making music for the sacred and the profane,” and with *The Monkey in the Crown*, the duo fully steps into that paradox. Lush string arrangements by SistaStrings (Brandi Carlile) & Matthew Nelson (The Chosen), pounding drums, and choirs of guest vocalists—including Rachael Davis—give the record a sense of spiritual urgency.
From healing after brain surgery to advocating for global aid on Capitol Hill, Moksha and Jemal have turned every challenge into a song. This new record is no different. It’s intimate yet epic, political yet personal. And it’s out now.
Upcoming Shows:
Aug. 29-30 – Wild Goose Festival – Harmony, NC
Aug. 31 – Floyd Yoga Jam – Willis, VA
Sept. 13 – Black Oak Artists Day Party @ AmericanaFest – Madison, TN
Oct. 2 – WDVX Blue Plate Special – Knoxville, TN
Oct. 2 – AyurPrana Listening Room – Asheville, NC
Oct. 4 – Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival – Oriental, NC
Oct. 11-12 – CaveFest – Pelham, TN
Nov. 13 – TBA Longmont, CO
Nov. 14 – Swallow Hill, Denver, CO
Nov. 15 – Music at Three Pines, Fort Collins, CO
Nov. 16 – Cottonwood Concerts, Greeley, CO