Kid North: Atlas

There's no better way to start the new year on a music blog with a strong new release by a new band, and Kid North certainly manage to do that.

Their first album Atlas was released at the beginning of this week on the Tsunami-Addiction label.

The group, a five piece from Paris, describe themselves as an indie rock band

The track England was released in September as a taster for the album. I'll forgive them their rather geographically dubious map of "England" that graces the cover...

The album is a beautifully crafted piece of work, with a sense of urgency and melancholy that the best left-field pop can summon. It has some of the epic sound featured in some of the best alternative acts of the 80s, whether the likes of Teardrop Explodes or Echo and the Bunnymen or even early U2, but with a hard edge that puts them right in the front line of modern music.

Four other tracks, relief 101, Hide and Seek, Battle Scars and Oxford Bridges were released as a digital EP in 2011, which is available as a free download from their bandcamp site 

Kid North featured on a live acoustic session on Oui FM on Monday, and play at Les Combustibles in Paris at the end of January