Radar: Evian Christ’s ‘Kings and Them’ mixtape download

When Evian Christ’s ‘Kings and Them’ mixtape hit music blogs a few weeks ago, there was a clamour to find out more. Shrouded in secrecy initially, with no photos to go on, little was known about the producer who made dark, expansive rap beats and signed to achingly trendy electronic label du jour Tri Angle Records.

Now it turns out - a rather pleasant surprise - he’s a whippersnapper called Joshua Leary from Ellesmere Port, who makes music in his spare time when he’s not doing a teacher training course at Edge Hill.

We’ve spent a couple of weeks with the mixtape, available to download here, and it’s rough around the edges, but it’s an interesting and promising first look at someone who could go on to do some exciting things. The pressure from too-much-too-soon blog hype has crushed many a young, exciting pop thing so time will tell if Christ can deliver the goods with a proper release. For now, he’s one to keep a watchful eye on.

Merseyside’s not had much of a history with exciting, modern electronic producers (unlike Bristol or London, for example) but with Evian Christ joining the likes of Forest Swords and Dauwd releasing some seriously great tunes, times look to be changing.

An official EP is expected in the second half of 2012.