Leon of Athens- 'Global'

Next stop Mercury then
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Leon of Athens[/caption] Leon of Athens presents a hybrid of noise. With one hand he dashes in a tad of indie dance, and the other he brings folk seasoning to a really full flavoured new album Global. Though Leon is originally from Athens, he clearly has soaked up the music scene of London where he currently resides. Single “Baby Asteroid” best encapsulates Leon’s sound. It’s happy with synths reflecting the current blue skies we have all been enjoying and a chorus with such successful layering of folk guitar, backing vocals and harmonies that you are taken on the comets tail. “Awake II” bounces in like a nursery rhyme with dashes of violin that make it impossible to dance fluidly, but I’m sure will keep the crowd happily in awe. But Leon of Athens is a man with many bows to his string, and the album perfectly flows from emotion to emotion with stripped back track “Lifeline”, who’s lyrics and caressing Spanish guitar picks flow behind Mr. Athens retelling of the classic lost love story in first person. Not a ground breaking concept but when executed so effectively, it still stirs up lost love memories. Global is certainly a monumental album title to fill, but rather than referring to possible aspirations of world dominance, it instead cleverly encapsulates Leon of Athens ability to fire you into the stratosphere with the twinkling synth and cacophony of cymbals and thunderous guitar of “Pilot” to then let you drift on above the sky with drum-machine led “Sirens” flowing like an astral river. Leon of Athens has shown his talent to develop carefully precise pop, that is soothing enough even Mum and Dad will like. It’s a stepping stone though, it feels like now he’s found the globe, it’s time to jump to more uncharted territory and with the skill he has already demonstrated that shouldn’t be too hard. Next stop Mercury then.   7/10   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggG4JKogNM

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