Kiran Leonard

Kiran Leonard, an English musician, crafts an intellectually charged and unconventional strain of indie rock that partially reflects the approach of Dirty Projectors. Across his wide-ranging output appear ventures such as the experimental solo pop of 2013's Bowler Hat Soup, the 2017 chamber-trio album Derevaun Seraun shaped by literary sources, and the singer/songwriter-oriented indie rock of 2018's Western Culture recorded with a live backing band.

A native of Greater Manchester, Leonard grew up surrounded by music in a household where several siblings played guitar and his father, a former professional musician, also worked in radio. He took up the mandolin at age five and advanced to guitar at eight, the period when he began composing short pieces in a classical manner. By 13 he was posting his material on music-sharing sites. His debut LP, Bowler Hat Soup, released by Hand of Glory in 2013, featured the precocious teenager performing on more than twenty instruments throughout a spontaneous, occasionally rambling set of experimental pop. The self-released Abandoning Noble Goals EP arrived in 2015. Leonard introduced his second album via the sixteen-minute lead single "Pink Fruit," after which Moshi Moshi Records issued the full-length Grapefruit in spring 2016. One year later came Derevaun Seraun, five movements for voice, piano, and string trio each drawn from a separate literary work. Early in 2018 Boira Discos issued the tour-only CD-R A Bit of Violence with These Old Engines in both digital form and limited-edition cassette. His following album marked the first occasion he tracked material in a professional studio alongside his live band. The resulting Western Culture appeared on Moshi Moshi in October 2018.