Kiran Leonard + Special Guests

Kiran Leonard (b. 1995)’s unique and ambitious body of work spans more than a decade of releases on labels such as Memorials of Distinction and Moshi Moshi, limited-run noisy DIY fare, and everything in between. The adolescent guitar/chamber prog of early records such as ‘Bowler Hat Soup’ (2013) and ‘Grapefruit’ (2016) earned praise from Pitchfork, Stereogum and the Quietus, and produced several BBC 6Music-playlisted singles. More recent work has seen Kiran attempt to synthesise interests in situated/home recording, collage, his live practice, and a combination of songcraft with graphic scores, as documented on the monumental (i.e. two-hour-long) and abstract ‘Trespass on Foot’ (2021) and ‘River Holds Peace, Some Live’ (2023), a collection of new and old material arranged for an ensemble of multiple electric guitars, cittern and double bass.

“Leonard rather pre-empted a swathe of other British artists playing his kind of theatrical
chamber-pop (Black Country, New Road; caroline; Blue Bendy, etc), and the timbre and
direction of his voice, flitting from perch to perch, remains unforgettably gorgeous. Real Home is
one of his most easily lovable LPs, full of beautiful string arrangements and stirring dynamics,
but there’s nothing ordinary about the directions his songs take.” – The Guardian (The best
albums of 2024 so far)

Returning after half a decade of songs without choruses, Kiran released a new album ‘Real Home’ in April 2024, named by the Guardian as among the best albums of the year so far. This was followed by a critically acclaimed UK tours, and the release of ‘Small Brown Bed/With You Waltz’, a 100-minute double CD of unreleased songs, turntable experiments, and live recordings of his new group, which features members of caroline and Shovel Dance Collective.