One Eskimo

After scoring three U.K. hits as a solo artist, Kristian Leontiou ditched his record contract and reestablished himself as the leader of a moody, ambient band. One eskimO's mix of pop hooks and trip-hop electronics isn't entirely different from Leontiou's solo material, but it does sound like the work of a proper band, with the instruments often receiving as much focus as the vocals themselves. The production often occupies the spotlight, too; "Kandi" swaggers with a deep, bass-heavy groove courtesy of Faithless' Rollo, and "Givin Up" opens with left-to-right speaker pans before settling into a minor-key chord progression. Leontiou is a fairly soft singer, but he surrounds himself with beat-oriented producers and active bandmates, all of whom play well against his bedroom melodies. ~ Andrew Leahey