With two sold-out London shows under his belt, an impassioned online support-base and an official debut single set for release this coming April 2018, Hertfordshire-born solo artist Michael Kilbey is waiting in the wings.
It’s a journey that hasn’t been without twists and turns. At the tender age of 18 his band The Franks were short-listed as finalists in Glastonbury’s prestigious UK-wide Emerging Talent Competition. An appearance on the BBC Introducing Stage followed, but with the four-piece barely out of school, a clash of priorities ensued and the childhood dream came to a crashing halt.
He bid farewell to his bandmates. But not to the brand of dark, inspired songwriting that had so intrigued the industry judges. In 2015, he began uploading a series of raw demos which captured the imagination of listeners, notably on Twitter where his fan-base quickly grew into the thousands.
Drawing reference to early Coldplay, Radiohead, Elbow and Bastille, his distinct English singing voice is reminiscent of the late Nick Drake. These are emotive, expansive songs about the struggle to exist, but imbued with a certain romance and sense of defiance that promises there is something worth fighting for.
And it’s a fight not short of recruits. 2016 saw his fierce support-base propel him to the main stage of London's biggest outdoor music festival as winner of Play On Blackheath. Successful crowd-funding of debut EP I Was Waiting followed, with international supporters flying in from 6 different countries to attend the launch show at The Water Rats last October.
Into 2018 and the upcoming headline at the 350-capacity Oslo Hackney in April has sold-out two months ahead of time. With demand to extend beyond London, a full UK tour is already scheduled for November 2018, and with enough burgeoning material to fill two debut albums, Kilbey appears suitably poised to embody the yearning voice of the so frequently dubbed ‘lost generation’.
On the single, Michael says: "I Was Waiting is ultimately about leaving someone behind. The song marks that breaking-point in an unhealthy relationship. Breaking free from a spell, a delusion, from manipulation, and turning the pent-up frustration of a lifetime into euphoric musical retribution. It’s about mourning the loss of time and broken promises".
He continues: "There is anger, sadness, reflection, but also a sense of triumph in the song. It was the first piece of music I’d written for almost 2 years after a very barren period. Creatively I’d felt suffocated, because of the situation I was in. Eventually you have that dawning moment and realise you’ve been fooled. Suddenly I was free and the first expression of those emotions quite instinctively took the shape of this song. I soon realised I’d been carrying them for quite some time".
Band live dates
April 6 - Oslo Hackney, London (**Sold out**)
May 12 - Bar Lubitsch, Los Angeles
June 16 - Bungalow, Paisley
August 30 - Komedia, Brighton
1 November - The Exchange, Bristol
2 November - Soup Kitchen, Manchester
9 November - The Garage, London
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