Artist: André, the Kid
Title: The Dream
Release: Album Out Now
Tracks: Trapsoft; Perfect; Hazy World
F.F.O: Frank Ocean; Dominic Fike; Childish Gambino

André, the Kid, so named because of his refusal to reject his childhood dreams and make-believe worlds, is to release his first album, The Dream, ten extraordinary tracks which take the listener on a twilight ride through the dreamworld. Exploring André, the Kid’s music through a dream is exactly the right introduction to a sound which refuses to be pigeonholed. A sometimes-surreal jaunt through dream pop, neo soul, ambient and alternative R&B might go some way to describing just one of the ten tracks but still doesn’t accommodate his sweetly naïve keyboard sounds nor the marriage of his soaring falsetto vocals and nods towards twee pop. Like musical pioneers before him, this is resolutely André’s unpredictable sound in a nutshell with no concessions to expectations nor trends.

Based in South-East London, André, the Kid is a completely DIY musician, happy to work alone as no-one he’s found as yet can tap into the strange images his mind creates. A gently drifting ethereal wash of vocals and Casio-keyboards takes you to a happier place – perhaps your childhood, perhaps just his own. The experience is one of being freed from the shackles of everyday life and being free to roam eternally sun-dappled streets and milk-pond oceans.

Shortlisted in 2017 for Roundhouse’s Artist in Residence, André is also planning a career in acting to fit alongside his aspirations in music. Andre claims his childhood hero was Spiderman – whilst Andre’s web-spinning skills might be untested, there’s no doubting his credentials as a superhero of out-there sounds.

Track-listing:

1 The Boy Awakens
2 Hazy World
3 Outside: Streets are Empty
4 Trapsoft
5 Almost There
6 The Girl
7 Perfect / Night Ride
8 Gates [Freestyle]
9 Dream Land
10 The Border