If the development of Ian George’s upcoming album, Kingdom of My Youth, were to be described with a single word, that word would be serendipity. With his previous touring outfit disbanded, George set out to backpack across Europe liberated from any form of urgency until, wholly by chance, he struck up a friendship with Mathieu Chedid, better known as M. Encouraged by his newfound acquaintance to record an album at his Labo M, George went rummaging for a new band of eclectic faces to bring his project to light. His latest LP is the result, set to release on 15 February.
George’s latest single, “Kandinsky”, offers a taste of the effulgent eclecticism on display in the forthcoming album. 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 singer-songwriter tells PopMatters, “I had never heard of Kandinsky before⎯Wassily Kandinsky, that is⎯the 20th century expressionist painter. But, there he was, abbreviated to a 14×18 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.”