A four piece indie band from London, One EskimO has an eclectic sound that immediately caught my ear. A clever mix of instruments and vocals bordering on insanely good, One EskimO took this album and weaved it into an animated series called ‘The Adventures of One Eskimo”.The series was released in 2009, coinciding with the release of their self-titled album. Follow the link at the bottom of the article to preview it. You can also preview it on iTunes. In 2009, the band caught a big break and opened up for Tori Amos on part of her tour. Kristian Leontiou, the band’s lead singer, was a star in the UK as a solo artist with a top ten hit “Story of my Life” off his album ‘Some Day Soon’. He walked away from his solo career to start One Eskimo because he wanted to create something he could be proud of. As a solo artist he wasn’t fulfilled and wanted to make an album that revealed his true self. Something that would explore all of his emotions.

 The reason this music is so good is because each song takes you on a different psychological journey with a vast range emotions. In my opinion, it could provide music for an entire film based on the dynamic nature of the lyrics alone.

 These listener reviews from iTunes users say it all:

 “I am not the same after this album”

“I am overplaying this album and I don’t even care”

“It’s been too long since I loved every song on an album”

 More artists need to write such honest lyrics and incorporate different instruments in their melodies. This album takes you for a ride that you honestly didn’t see coming. Here is my interpretation of a few songs that really stood out as the stars of the album:

 ‘Astronauts’ begins with a beautiful piano melody. The melancholy is obvious, and it hits you immediately. The chorus talks about needing space and floating away like an astronaut. There are a lot of ways this could work into a scene where a person is alone and/or mentally lost. “If you want to get out of here” is the last line of the chorus. This could work with a character driving away.

 ‘Slip’ is a great song about longing. Remembering. Missing someone. It’s sexy and upbeat but the lyrics show how the singer is longing for someone. It’s almost like he can’t live without this person. It would fit perfectly in a scenario where there is a break-up and love still exists but it’s one sided.

 ‘Hometime’ begins with an old recording that sounds like it’s from the 50’s. There is a great use of horns in this song. The vocals remind me a bit of Chris Martin’s (Coldplay) in places but the sound is still definitely unique.  This is a song that belongs in a scene where the subject is possibly packing and traveling back to his/her home town. Taking off on a plane. Driving a packed car across the country.

 Also noteworthy; ‘UFO’ and ‘Chosen One’.

 Below are links to One EskimO’s official website as well as a MySpace link to sample their tracks. The second link shows how they previously used some of their music for the animated film.

 http://www.oneeskimo.co.uk/

http://www.oneeskimo.co.uk/visual_album.html

http://www.myspace.com/oneeskimo