Biography
Despite sporting baggy pants, skatepunk sneakers, and other youthful fashion elements that suggested an imminent explosion of teen-angst anthems, Kristian Leontiou (pronounced Lee-On-Tyoo) instead supplied the poignant strains of David Gray, Dido, and Damien Rice blended with a blue-eyed soul swoon. A London native, he developed an early devotion to music and committed so fully to a professional singing path that at age 17 he departed both home and school, financing his ambitions through an assortment of odd jobs. Initial label interest focused on his appearance and pushed for involvement in rap or teen pop acts, offers he declined while persistently circulating demos styled as singer/songwriter material. Breakthrough came at 22 with a 2004 deal from Polydor in the U.K., after which promotional momentum quickly built. His debut single, “Story of My Life,” surged up the charts that spring and was succeeded by the full-length Some Day Soon, which attained gold status. Island issued the album in America in February 2005, yet Leontiou eventually tired of solo work and terminated the arrangement with the label. Several years afterward he reappeared as frontman of One eskimO.
Albums
