Lewis Watson

"A singular new talent is being forged" - The Guardian"Leonard is an autodidact of amazing talent and energy" - PitchforkKiran Leonard announces details of a new album Derevaun Seraun, set to be released 15th September on Moshi Moshi. It is the follow-up to 2016's acclaimed Grapefruit LP, his first for Moshi Moshi.Lead single "Living With Your Ailments" is a seven minutes plus song inspired by Albert Camus' 1942 philosophy work The Myth of Sisyphus. "I read it for the first time as an unhappy, nervous 17-year-old and I found it deeply moving and comforting," says Leonard. "It is an essay about taking the cards we are dealt mortality, nothingness, uncertainty and doing our best with them, in humour and in optimism and in open-mindedness."Leonard has also today announced details of a tour of England to coincide with the release, on which he'll be accompanied by a string trio to perform Derevaun Seraun in full. The dates includes a special night at London's St. Pancras Old Church on 20th September when there will be two performances (at 7PM and 9PM)Read on for a full list of tourdates, and for Leonard's statement on Derevaun Seraun.DEREVAUN SERAUN is a piece I wrote a couple years back in five movements for voice, piano and string trio. Each movement is written about a different piece of literature, exploring the value I see in each work and the impression it has made on me, and there is nothing more to it than that. The pleasure of books of good verse and stories and ideas is a very simple thing, and I felt that some lofty unifying theme for the entire piece would be a betrayal of that belief. I think that when a work resonates with you it is an instinctive response to something. You can be taught to understand a challenging book, but not to feel affection for it; I think a lot of conversation around art, especially around literature, sometimes forgets this. In my experience, the art I like the most, irrespective of its 'difficulty', is the art I can advocate most directly and plainly, and about which I can say: I read this piece and now I do not read or think in the same way that I did before, or: This is a story that I could not explain to someone; I do not understand it word-for-word, yet I feel like innately I understand the whole, and that the whole spoke to me. This is a piece about five books that I like and why I like them." - Kiran Leonard