“Dark lyrical musings…matched by epic musical sensibilities”; two elements used by Mojo to describe To Kill A King’s sound. Since releasing their debut single on Communion records in 2011, the Leeds/London based five-piece have been recording and gigging in preparation for a busy summer and autumn in 2012.
Having just returned from a debut thirteen-night UK headline tour, the band now announce their live summer schedule, comprising of twelve festivals including Bestival, Wilderness, Field Day and Parklife. These dates accompany the release of a live video of the song ‘Funeral’, and take place alongside their program of ‘guerilla’ gigs. These have seen the band play over 50 acoustic sets nationwide this year, showcasing their five-part harmonies in unusual locations such as florists, train stations, warehouses and fans’ homes. Their new series ‘Ralph’s Balcony’ now features collaborations with artists such as Bastille and will soon be teamed with a major blog.
To Kill A King formed in 2010 and released their debut single Fictional State on Ben Lovett’s Communion Label in early 2011. Since then, they have had a residency at Ronnie Scott’s, promoted a successful club night ‘To Kill A King presents…’, embarked on a UK support tour and sold out Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, the Garage and XOYO (as part of Q Magaizine’s ‘Now:The Sessions’ series). Last autumn they released the E.P. ‘My Crooked Saint’ which was accompanied by a four-part music video. The lead track ‘Bloody Shirt’ was iTunes single of the week (50,000+ downloads), received Radio 1 airplay from Zane Lowe and Huw Stevens, Radio 2 airplay from Nemone and was playlisted on XFM and Absolute Radio. Their new album, due for completion this summer, is produced by Jim Abbiss (Adele, Bombay Bicycle Club) Charlie Hugall (Florence and the Machine, Ed Sheeren), Andy Green (Keane, Paulo Nutini) and the band’s keyboard player Ben Jackson.
To Kill A King’s songs begin with lead singer Ralph Pelleymounter’s acoustic compositions, around which the band work in drums, bass, electric guitar, synth and other instruments. They focus on Pelleymounter’s lyrical narrative, with accompaniments ranging from tender instrumentals to climactic orchestral passages including strings, brass and five-part harmonies. This combination has been described as “rousing orch-folk…. multilayered songs complicated in structure but straight to the emotional point” (the Guardian), “sky-scraping folk” (the Fly), “brutally beautiful…filled with outstanding vocal harmonies and powerful emotive lyrics” (Guestlist) and “smooth and emotive” (Q Magazine).
To Kill A King “will almost definitely be filling tents and bopping heads at festivals over the summer” (Project Mag) to add to their rapidly growing fan-base.
