Jean Grobler is Kites, a one-man band who spend three years to come up with a little over 16 minutes EP called You and I in the Kaleidoscope. Growing up in South Africa and singing in a fabled boys choir, he moved to Liverpool and enrolled in the Institute for Performing Arts. He got noticed by Paul McCartney, followed classes form George Martin and started writing the songs that would eventually end up on the EP.
He made demos, some more demos, invited Jay Sikora to play drums - which meant that he would rerecord yet again, and ended with dozens of audio tracks for each song. Mixing the monster proved to be a far too difficult task for him. Andy Baldwin came to the rescue, balancing and mixing the four orchestral pop pieces that make up You and I in the Kaleidoscope.
Jean Gobler goes for the grand gesture. After three years of tinkering changes are that you end up with lifeless, overproduced crap. He sidestepped that pitfall and end ed up with pocket-sized album that is bursting at the seams with carefully layered instrumentation. You may need a better pair of headphones.
Tracks:
- Daylight
- Easy Now
- Game Of Love And War
- Heroes And Villains
MP3: Kites - Daylight
» www.kitesmusic.com
» www.myspace.com/kitessite