Short Bio:

London based indie-pop star Leon of Athens channels the flamboyant beauty of Sufjan Stevens and Grizzly Bear alongside a similar widescreen pop sensibility as Imagine Dragons and Tame Impala. His brand new album Xenos (EMI/Universal) is a beautiful, thoughtful piece of work. It showcases just why he has become a huge live draw in Greece – where he plays to audiences in their thousands – his ever-growing fanbase across Europe and his rising profile in the USA where he has just been confirmed to appear at SXSW, Okeechobee, Firefly Music Festival and Summerfest.

The album follows the highly acclaimed release of his debut album Global, championed by the likes of The Guardian, NME, Q, New York Times and more. It is produced by David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything) and is informed lyrically by the refugee crisis, the rise of the far-right in Europe and the US, but also personal upheavals: fractured relationships, lost faith, youth, freedom and death.

From the uplifting indie-pop of previous singles ‘Aeroplane’ and ‘Fire Inside You’, to the dark creeping electronics of the title track and ‘Xenos’, Leon Of Athens proves himself an intriguing and exciting force. There are delicate moments on the stark piano-led ballads of ‘Letters To My Father’ and ‘Final Moment’, while the album closes with the joyous ode to his favourite place in the world ‘Corfu’.

Press Quotes:

“Brainy pop inflected with electronic, folk and other flavours” – The Guardian

“Leon has mastered the art of electronica-tickled melodic pop.” – NME

“Lovely song, lovely performance” – Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Radio Music

“The Greek god of indie-pop” – Wonderland

“In this place where tragedy was invented, the song was joyful and sadly cathartic.” – New York Times

“Conveying the depth and nuance of ‘Xenos’ in a little over 150 words isn’t easy” – Clash

“Even when he’s talking about the deplorable state of things he does it in a way that lifts the heart” – MOJO

Similar Artists:

Sufjan Stevens, Perfume Genius, Tame Impala, Grizzly Bear, Local Natives, Phoenix, Foster The People, Bastille, James Vincent Mc Morrow, Portugal The Man

Hometown:

Athens, Greece

Currently based:

London, UK