Published: October 15, 2025
Frontman Crispian Mills highlights the 1972 track It’s a Sin to Go Away, calling it one of Latin America’s finest hidden gems.
Photo Credit: Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker have always followed their own path, far from trends and industry predictions. While their upcoming album Wormslayer marks a new creative chapter for the band, frontman Crispian Mills recently turned attention away from the UK and toward Peru, acknowledging a piece of music history that has long remained overlooked outside Latin America. In a recent feature, Mills praised It’s a Sin to Go Away by We All Together, a band from Lima whose melodic depth and artistic ambition contributed one of the most refined psych-pop recordings of the early 1970s.
Not every great story in rock begins in London or Los Angeles. Some begin in unexpected places, far from the machinery of the music industry, and are carried forward by those who still listen with curiosity. Known for blending Indian textures, vintage organs and melodic mysticism, Kula Shaker earned a cult reputation in the late 1990s with their debut album K. Behind their psychedelic charm there has always been a commitment to musical exploration. Rather than chasing trends, the band continues to search for music with emotional truth, wherever it may come from. That search recently led Crispian Mills to rediscover a group far from the British scene: We All Together, from Lima, Peru.
Formed in the early 1970s, We All Together combined delicate arrangements, expressive vocal harmonies and a melodic sensibility rooted in songwriting rather than showmanship. Speaking with Far Out Magazine, Crispian Mills praised It’s a Sin to Go Away for its atmosphere and purity. He described it as a dreamlike recording that feels both intimate and otherworldly, a track that captures emotion without relying on studio tricks or artificial drama. Despite being recorded outside the major music markets, the song has a sonic quality that feels timeless and undeniably genuine.
Musical truth: although the song has resurfaced over the years as a cult discovery, it was We All Together who gave it its definitive form in 1972 under MAG Discos. Written by Saúl Cornejo and Manuel Cornejo, the studio recording featured Carlos Guerrero on lead vocals, Ernesto Samamé on bass, Carlos Salom on Hammond organ and Manuel Cornejo on drums and effects. Decades before the psychedelic revival reached mainstream audiences, We All Together were already shaping the atmospheric and melodic approach that modern artists like Tame Impala would later explore. The result is a piece of Peruvian psych-pop that rivals international productions of its era, layered with atmosphere and built on melody that survives beyond time and trends.
Their self-titled debut album We All Together, released in 1972, was sung entirely in English, which helped the group reach audiences beyond Peru at a time when the country’s music industry had limited infrastructure. The album combined original songs with carefully chosen covers by Badfinger and Paul McCartney, not as imitation but as part of the band’s musical identity. The emotional character of Carlos Guerrero’s voice and the sophisticated arrangements crafted by the Cornejo brothers gave the group a signature sound, elegant and adventurous, melancholy yet melodic.
Even without major label support, We All Together gained recognition at home. Their single Hey Revolution, written by Carlos Guerrero, became a radio success in Peru and led the group to be declared Best National Pop-Rock Group by the National Institute of Culture. In 1973 they released new material that included Lo Más Grande que Existe es el Amor, a song that remains a cultural milestone in Peruvian music. By the time the band disbanded in 1974, they had left behind a small but immaculate catalogue that earned quiet respect among collectors and musicians, first in Peru, then across Latin America and now across the world.
More than fifty years after its release, It’s a Sin to Go Away continues to find listeners not through marketing strategies but through the natural force of discovery. That is perhaps the most powerful evidence of its value. Real music does not disappear, it simply waits for the next set of ears. In bringing renewed attention to We All Together, Kula Shaker are not reviving nostalgia. They are recognizing a timeless recording and giving deserved visibility to Peru’s contribution to the history of rock. From Lima to London, melody travels without a passport.
Rockum Perspective
Music history has never been defined by geography or industry trends. It belongs to those who create with honesty, regardless of where they come from. We All Together did that in Peru in 1972, crafting songs with heart, precision and purpose. When a band from one part of the world inspires another from thousands of miles away, it confirms a simple truth: real music travels on its own. Kula Shaker did not discover this masterpiece, they helped remind the world that it has been here all along, waiting to be heard.
Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist
