One Eskimo
Kandi
Release: Feb 2009
Imagine Damien Rice and Dido dressed as a pengiun, eskimo, giraffe and monkey singing a song co-written by Ronan Keating andMoloko if you will. No one can fault One EskimO of not being a creative concept, so how the ingenuity of Kristian Leontiou and his animated band making a stand against the obsession of image in the music industry has resulted in a track so similar to the rest of the Top 40 is a feat in itself.
The lyrics are inoffensive enough to get radio play, and children will love the characters playing out narratives, but since when has ‘for all the family’ been a term of praise for music? Trusting animated animals to be your vehicles for the goal of creating “magical, ambient, filmic, acoustic, beautiful and meaningful” music, asLeontiou stated in an interview with the Guardian, is nothing if not commendable.
The real magic on this single is that all five versions of ‘Kandi’ sound very different – the radio edit is dull, but the cicada club mix is perfect for blissing out at the end of a hedonistic night. So bypass the traditional route, and head straight for the after party. I guess that it’s just not One EskimO’s way to do things the conventional route.
