LEON OF ATHENS Unveils Okeechobee Music Fest, SXSW Schedule, New Album XENOS Out Now

Immensely talented London-via-Athens indie pop artist Leon of Athens is set to make his US live debut this week at Okeechobee Music Fest, where he'll take the stage Friday, Mar 2, at 1:30pm to play songs from his newly released third album, Xenos. Fans can expect an empowering live set stacked with recent gems such as "Aeroplane," "Xenos," and "Utopia"; Leon will then bring this show to SXSW, which included him as a Showcasing Artist of the Day way back in December. Live details are below.

Across nine songs and just over half an hour, Xenos posits Leon of Athens as one of today's finest songwriters, whether through ominous journeys such as its title track, celebratory anthems such as "Letters to My Father," or anti-fascist mementos such as the album's emotional core, "Serpent's Egg." Following his half-decade of dominating the European touring circuit and receiving praise from The Guardian and NME, Leon is beyond thrilled to make his live debut across the pond.

Leon of Athens live:

Mar 2, 1:30pm: Okeechobee, FL @ Okeechobee Music Fest
Mar 16, 10pm: Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian Church (SXSW)

Xenos: an alien, foreigner, stranger, but also an estrangement, a distance. As a global wanderer, an artist of the world, Leon Veremis - aka Leon Of Athens - knows what it is to be a stranger, to a new country as well as to yourself. He shows me a photograph of a sculpture that inspired him called The Immigrant's Void by Bruno Catalano; a man carrying a case, with a gaping hole where his home, his self-assurance and his sense of belonging used to be.

Drifting somewhere between Sufjan, Alt-J and Perfume Genius, Xenos is amongst the richest and most lustrous pop records of 2017, a proud step forward for Leon Of Athens but also a springboard. "Some people might think it's very pop, others might think it's really left-field and dark," he says. "I feel that after this album I want to explore more and be more adventurous. Although I like pop music, I want to go somewhere else. I want to experiment with form a lot more, to break the pop form."

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