Ian George Announces Debut Album

Ian George has announced his debut album Kingdom of My Youth, to be released February 15, and shared its first single. Popmatters premiered "Kandinsky" saying, "Meshed together by lilting bits of ethereal percussion and tones, George's forward-looking new offering is a subtle explosion of vibrant colors that delight." The Minneapolis-based indie folk artist will play handful of dates in New York City this December. Details are listed below.

Ian tells us of his own experience with Kandisky, "I had never heard of Kandinsky before?-Wassily Kandinsky, that is?-the 20th century expressionist painter. But, there he was, abbreviated to a 14x18 inch 'art coffee table book.' I had time to kill, loitering in the living room of my high school art teacher friend, so naturally, I heeded the beckoning of the book's vivaciously abstract cover painting and explored its 146-page caboodle of the artist's work. A few hours later, with the cooperation of the haggard and obscure acoustic guitar hanging from the wall, I had my initial response to Kandinsky and his paintings captured in a folk song."

Ian George's solo debut Kingdom of My Youth is not an album he intended to create. Following the implosion of his former touring band, Ian set off to backpack Europe free from purpose, until an unexpected encouter with Mathieu Chedid (more commonly known as 'M') gave him one. The beloved French rock star holds the gold place in number of Victoires de la Musique awards, but Ian met him by perfectly humble chance.

Though only recent acquaintances, Mathieu insisted that Ian record an album at Labo M, the 17th Century manor originally built for King Louis XVI's nephew in Paris, which M utilizes as a personal studio. Unable to refuse, Ian spent the following two months on an international scavenger hunt, seeking a properly eclectic mesh of musicians to sonically fill this impromptu opportunity. He says, "I was scrambling. I had two months to find a band and somehow transport and lodge them in Paris to play songs I hadn't even finished yet, and all on a peasant musician's budget."

Across Norway, London, Paris and Brooklyn, Ian located the talents he affectionately refers to as "quiet shredders." They are Vincent Polycarpe (co-producer, percussion), Jacob Matheus (electric guitar), Eugene Feygelson (violin), Nicholas Souchal (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Mathieu Chedid himself (bass and percussion). Kingdom of My Youth came into existence at Labo M during the month of August, 2017, between the hours of 2:00 PM and 7:00 AM seven days a week, among sporadic breaks for noisette, croissants, and memorably stinky cheese.

Although most of its songs explore youth in some facet, Kindgom is not a concept record. "Once I fully committed to it--or rather, realized it was too late to bail--I made sure this album would act as my re-calibration tool, a chance to shed the illusionary box I had once erected around myself so as to remain a folk music purist," says Ian. "I no longer needed to be anything, other than perhaps a forever-evolving, creative expression of human experience." In Ian's debut full-length, youth is not an idea confined to age. Rather, it is a state of mind in which one can access unfiltered, uninhibited movement through life. Ian's work asks with intense sincerity, "How can we preserve the beautiful freeness we're born with, when faced with transition into a calloused, disenchanted, 'good' adult citizen in this mad society?"

TRACKLIST

1. Gitchee Gumee

2. The Wild & The Untamed

3. Kandinsky

4. Son

5. Better with a Buddy

6. L'Étange-la-Ville

7. The Jolly Road

8. Shenandoah

TOUR DATES

December 3 | Brooklyn, NY at FourFiveSix

December 4 | New York, NY at NUBLU

December 5 | New York, NY at Rockwood Music Hall

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