Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker's reformation has its origins in sessions for a charity album made with the New Braj Village School (a private school in Badger, California, for young people which includes as part of the curriculum teachings about Krishna and devotional music). The album "School of Braja" was recorded in 2004 and finally saw release in late 2006. Crispian Mills, who masterminded the album, arranged not only that the Jeevas play on two tracks, but he also got in touch with his old bandmate, Alonza Bevan. The two worked on a song together for the album, "Braj Mandala", to which Paul Winterhart added drums. Jay Darlington was asked to be part of the sessions, but declined the opportunity. At the time of the recording, this was announced on the official Jeevas website as Kula Shaker having reformed to contribute a song to the album and was referred to by Mills as a Kula Shaker reunion in subsequent interviews. Additionally, the "School of Braja" album credits officially state that Kula Shaker appear on the track "Braj Mandala". The sessions for the track went so well that Mills and Bevan began writing together again and making plans for a full-on Kula Shaker comeback that would encompass live touring and the further release of new material. A new band website was also commissioned.
Kula Shaker
Prior to the release of their second album, the band became the subject of controversy surrounding remarks that Mills had made in the "NME" and "Melody Maker", regarding the swastika, calling it a "brilliant image" albeit in the context of its traditional Indian origins. "The Independent on Sunday" ran a front page article in April 1997 reprinting Mills' comments and alleging that the guitarist "had dabbled with Nazism". The negative publicity surrounding the incident, along with overexposure in the British media, hurt the band's sales. The "Independent" article also revealed that the "Objects of Desire" had used the motto "England will rise again", and had performed at a 1993 conference at Wembley called "Global Deception" at which speakers included renowned conspiracy theorists Eustace Mullins and William Cooper.