http://kiranleonard.bandcamp.com/album/bowler-hat-soup
I’m breaking with tradition just to write a short personal blog about a young singer songwriter who makes me feel woefully inadequate. Kiran Leonard – 17 years of age – take a bow. (Link to his entire album above)
I heard the quite brilliant ‘Dear Lincoln’ – a song about mental illness which is a very personal subject to me – a couple of months ago after a random Twitter tip off and when I saw that it was written and performed by a 14 year old I decided that I needed to do something with my life. Unfortunately, two months later all the efforts I have put in to changing every aspect of my being for the better have come full circle and I’m back to where I began. Where I began was Kiran Leonard and so I looked on his own website to find his full album ‘Bowler Hat Soup’ was there. So I listened all the way through. And it is amazing.
Highlights include: ‘Port Ainé’ wouldn’t seem out of place on a Ben Howard record such is the slickness. ‘Smilin’ Morn’ is a joy of a song with the slow build to a crescendo of some of the best Rufus Wainwright has offered with infinitely more weirdness to boot. ‘Geraldo’s Farm’ brings in a distinctive electronic feel to proceedings and the fast rock-infused ‘There’s No Future In Us’ builds upon this constantly changing theme as the second half of the album delves in to experimental anarchy mixing previous songs on the album to create a mash up that no one signed to a big record company would dare to attempt. The final song, ‘A Purpose’ is a beautiful gem as Leonard changes styles once more back towards melancholic Rufus Wainwright territory. It is all over the place and yet a 17 year old pulls it off to make a wonderful album. It is impossible to describe the genre as it is heavily influenced by too many artists on each song. What you can say is that Kiran Leonard is a music obsessed young man with serious passion and even more talent.
Kiran Leonard deserves to be a huge name and after listening to this amazingly complex, soulful and imaginative album I have full faith that he will be some day. Until then at least I can feel that I have achieved something by hearing him before the masses descended upon him and killed his experimental music…it has begun…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/may/28/kiran-leonard-new-band
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