Kinobe | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Hammersmith, West London, England |
Genres | Electronica, trip hop, nu jazz |
Labels | Sony Music Entertainment UK, Zomba, Jive |
Members | Julius Waters Chuck Norman |
Past members | Marc Blackburn Dave Pemberton |
Kinobe was founded in west London in 1998 by childhood friends Mark Blackburn and Julius Waters. Blackburn departed in 2004, replaced by Dave Pemberton. Chuck Norman replaces Pemberton for their 2017 releases.
Kinobe first came to prominence with their single "Slip Into Something More Comfortable" which sampled Engelburt Humperdink, during the late 90s/early 00's boom for chilled electronic music, alongside Lemon Jelly, Bonobo and Bent. The track featured on numerous TV, film and compilation soundtracks and was reissued in 2016 with new remixes featuring Psychemagik, Stephen Hague, Shibumi and Enginearz.
Kinobe followed up the success of the single with a series of albums that featured continued use of sampling and live instruments, while also introducing guest vocalists
Melodic, sublime and destined to soundtrack the summer and beyond, the chill-out pioneers returned with The Firebird EP in May. The soulful title track was accompanied by a stunning vintage skateboarding video, featuring legendary Seventies downhill speed champ Guy ‘Grundy’ Spagnoli.
Next comes Kinobe’s Thought It Was You EP.
Released on July 14 it too comprises four new songs: the title track featuring vocals from the Donny Hathaway-esque songwriter Rich Hale, ‘Summer Rain’ sung by model and songwriter Lucy Chapman, and two blissed-out instrumentals ‘Sunray’ and ‘Watch The Skies’, all featuring irresistible hooks, washes of melody and downtempo breakbeats.
All the hallmarks of classic Kinobe, in other words.
There will be a further EP and an album from Kinobe this year, and the band are looking to gig very soon