Karamelien - Do You Really Want To Go
Indie pop-rock duo Karamelien presents 'Do You Really Want To Go', a groovy anthem for high-heel haters and canapé avoiders everywhere, along with a cheeky video produced by award-winning filmmaker Eveshka Ghost. Filmed near to Léanie’s house in East Grinstead, West Sussex, this clip highlighting the duo’s great friendship, with neither of them taking themselves very seriously.
This is the final single from their debut album, 'Living With The Moon', a grounding 9-track offering that breaks from the typical songwriter mould. Its sonic offerings draw inspiration from fuzzy Lo-fi, storytelling, trip hop, and reverb-drenched 1960s film soundtracks, with a greater emphasis on beats and basslines.
Karamelien is singer-songwriter Léanie Kaleido and guitarist Mark Foster - two long-time friends, whose music has forged an even stronger bond between them. This Karamelien album follows the three albums that Léanie Kaleido released as a solo artist.
‘Although I’ve always been a fairly sociable person, I’ve never enjoyed the formality of parties, particularly ones where you’re expected to dress in a certain way. I hate high heels and sparkly dresses. Eurgh. And I always enjoy the chance to write a tongue-in cheek ditty, where I can let myself get a bit narky about silly things. I’d woken up with the chorus line in my head and it grew from there," says Léanie Kaleido.
"I initially recorded the track at my home studio, then we worked further on it with Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound. I played Gardener’s gorgeous Rhodes for the main keyboard track, which was a treat. However, the song needed more work to get it finished so, later, at Ian Caple’s studio, Lee Pomeroy came in to add some live bass and he gave it a bit of a ‘Blockheads vibe’ in the chorus. I’ve always loved Norman Watt-Roy from the Blockheads – I’ve seen them live 3 or 4 times and that man is a veritable sweaty bass genius – so Lee’s basslines, as always, made me very happy indeed."
Mark Foster adds, "‘Do You Really Wanna Go is what might have occurred if Beck had visited East London’s Drum and Bass Clubs in the mid-90s while writing 'Odeley' – warm, washed out jazzy vibes, with a kick of DIY breakbeat to keep things just the right side of Shoreditch."
While Lee Pomeroy (ELO, Take That, Rick Wakeman, Yes), one of the UK's leading bass players, joined the duo on most of the album's tracks, the song 'Ascension Heights' features bassist Morris 'Mo' Pleasure (Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Ray Charles), gracing the track with his funkadelic bassline.
Karamelien recently presented 'Digital Imogen', a feisty in tongue-in-cheek warning of the dangers of obsessing over own photos on social media, which was recorded and produced by Ian Caple (Massive Attack, Tricky, Mansun, Tindersticks, Vanessa Paradis), who was also EMI's in-house engineer back in the day.
The duo earlier released the title track 'Living With The Moon' and 'Wait For Me' with piano, mixing and production by Chris Mars (A Flock of Seagulls, Damian Wilson). Two other tracks were produced by RIDE's Mark Gardener at OX4 Sound Studio - 'Lionhearts' and 'Ascension Heights', which features a guitar sample from Léanie's late father Top Topham (original founding guitarist of The Yardbirds) and also involved Paul Statham (Dido, Simple Minds, Kylie Minogue).
The 'Living With The Moon' album is out now and available from fine digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
